Good day all. When Hurricane Ian took aim at Florida, Governor DeSantis told people to not screw around and get the Hell out of Dodge. Thankfully, most people took his advice. However, for a lot of people there was a problem with running for the hills. They own Teslas and other Electric Vehicles.
One of the major problems with these cars is range. They didn’t have the range to get clear of the hurricane, so people left them behind and headed out in reliable, easy to refuel vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Now we’re seeing another issue with all the battery powered cars that were flooded in the storm. They seem to be detonating. Here are the details from Fox News:
A top Florida state official warned Thursday that firefighters have battled a number of fires caused by electric vehicle (EV) batteries waterlogged from Hurricane Ian.
EV batteries that have been waterlogged in the wake of the hurricane are at risk of corrosion, which could lead to unexpected fires, according to Jimmy Patronis, the state’s top financial officer and fire marshal.
“There’s a ton of EVs disabled from Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start,” Patronis tweeted Thursday. “That’s a new challenge that our firefighters haven’t faced before. At least on this kind of scale.”
“It takes special training and understanding of EVs to ensure these fires are put out quickly and safely,” he continued in a follow-up tweet. “Thanks to [North Collier Fire Rescue] for their hard work.”
That is one of the major issues with Electric cars. The lithium in the batteries does not handle fresh air very well. If the battery is ruptured, it will catch fire. This type of fire a stone cold bitch to put out, and even if the firefighters do get it extinguished, there is a fair chance that it will reignite again, days or even weeks later. This happened last spring locally to Anger Central. A Tesla crashed and burst into flames. The fire department got it out, but it reignited a week later in the scrap yard. As I recall, they dug a hole, pushed the burning car into it and then filled it up with water.
It is unclear how many EVs were impacted or destroyed by the storm.
I suspect it will be in the hundreds. Due to the size and power of Hurricane Ian, (Category 4), people had to travel hundreds of miles to get out of the path. Teslas and other EV’s might make it a couple of hundred miles at best, but then it will take hours to recharge them. Meanwhile, the storm was bearing down. This is why people abandoned them and took regular cars. You can gas those up in a few minutes and get out of the way of the storm.
Meanwhile, consumers are increasingly turning to EVs as the Biden administration continues to push a green transition involving zero-emission cars. Between April and June, EVs accounted for 5.6% of new car purchases in the U.S., up slightly from the first three months of 2022, according to Kelley Blue Book.
I will never buy a Tesla or any of the other EV’s out there. First, they’re more expensive to buy then a similar model regular vehicle. Second, those batteries don’t last the life of the car and can run thousands of dollars to replace. The batteries also can’t be recycled, and they are a fire hazard.
Shortly after taking office, President Biden announced a goal of ensuring that 50% of new car sales would be EVs by 2030.
Under the current technology, I don’t see that happening, although you have a couple of states, (All run by Progressive totalitarian vermin), who have stated they will ban the sale of normal cars in the next 10 years.
However, critics have blasted the administration for giving a “false impression” about EVs, noting that they are expensive and often unreliable.
“[The EV push] is really kind of a con job,” Myron Ebell, the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, told FOX Business in July. “It may be a good deal for some people in some places under some circumstances. But by-and-large right now, it’s not a good deal.”
I don’t see how battery powered cars ever will be a good deal. Now I do see potential for hydrogen fueled cars, either burning the hydrogen directly, (Like we do with gasoline), or using a hydrogen fuel cell to general electric power. However, the issues with hydrogen are making it, (You need to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and that’s not easy or cheap…yet), and the problem with hydrogen being rather flammable if it leaks.
Of course, if hydrogen leaks, since it’s lighter than air, it’s going straight up. If it burns, it stops once the fuel is gone, and again, it’s not going to keep reigniting a week later. However, Hydrogen as a fuel source is decades away from being “Ready for Prime Time.” EV’s will never be ready without major physics and engineering breakthroughs. In the mean time, I’ll just sit here waiting for the gas powered Bronco that I’m on the list for to be constructed.
Thatisall
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