Electric cars.

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I used to know a guy who's 2 reliant robins spontaneously ignited just at the point when repairs to get them through the MOT was more than the vehicles were worth. Both were parked up at the time and one was next to his neighbour's house who he'd previously had a falling out with. 2 birds with 1 stone.
 
Real world figures - There’s been 753 call-outs in 5 years for all types of battery powered vehicle, over half of those were scooters/hover boards etc. Electric cars constituted 44% of the total and appear to be safer than ICE by comparison.

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/are-...arch indicates that,a very small sample size.
ta for the figures thumb.

so in terms of the risk assessment (of which I used to do a lot of before I retired) lower probability but higher impact? On the risk assessment matrix they could well be the same.
 
so in terms of the risk assessment (of which I used to do a lot of before I retired) lower probability but higher impact? On the risk assessment matrix they could well be the same.

As it says in the article it looks like EV is safer than ICE but "the number of EVs on the roads still represents a very small sample size" it'll be interesting to see the stats in a few years when cars are 15 years old and their batteries are getting towards end of life.

“Our latest research indicates that the risk of a fire for all types of EV remains less likely than for ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. It should be noted that the usable data only goes back five years and even now the number of EVs on the roads still represents a very small sample size.
 
ta for the figures thumb.

so in terms of the risk assessment (of which I used to do a lot of before I retired) lower probability but higher impact? On the risk assessment matrix they could well be the same.

evfiresafe.com appears to be a reliable source of science based info. For example, this post addresses @Chippy_Tea question about where fires are likely to occur (more likely away from charging stations). The overall risk of an EV fire is also quoted and is very low. Over 2/3 occurred in outside spaces and almost 3/4 were not related to charging, so the impact of an EV fire on home safety may not be as high as tumble dryers or bargain shop phone chargers (this not my area of expertise, what do you think?).

On the other side of the coin, there are 30-40,000 respiratory deaths attributable to road pollution per year in the UK link (sorry, second hand information again, but also from a respectable source). So, overall, I'm leaning towards the conclusion that EV's are the better option from a risk to health perspective.

Edit - missing link to evfiresafe.com Apologies.

https://www.evfiresafe.com/post/how-common-are-ev-fires
 
Last edited:
On the other side of the coin, there are 30-40,000 respiratory deaths attributable to road pollution per year in the UK So, overall, I'm leaning towards the conclusion that EV's are the better option from a risk to health perspective.

I couldn't agree more.
 
Only car fire issue I had was a 1992 diesel fiesta with maybe a billion miles on the clock, I paid £490 for it.
It was a bit of a panicked moment for me, but fortunately I was parked outside the house. So I ran back in to get some kind of container to put the fire out, all I could find in my panic was a John Smiths pint glass, it did the trick mind, nice relevant one for us home brewers lol!
 
not having off street parking isnt necessarily an issue.
Friend of mine just installed something like this this on the front of his terraced house. His doesnt free stand but is instead bolted to the front of the house and the arm just swings up on a gas ram and when he has finished charging, he pulls it down and it clicks back in to the frame and he padlocks it shut.
I think it was about £300 and he installed it himself then got a sparky to wire it in to his smart charger. And to stop anyone else using it, the charger will only work via the app on his phone.
Ugly though.
 
The future needs a mix of power, probably more localised and will include a lot of solar. It is cheap, portable and easy. Solar will drive the price on energy down.

Nuclear I agree, with but also has its problems. Equally hydrogen is going to struggle (storage pressure is huge and at 1 molecule (H1) leaks on a epic scale.
 
Last edited:
On solar . The real issue solar is not cheap in its lifetime. Too much deterioration makes it a negative equation economic decision. Needs to be much cheaper to make it work
 
Evs are heavier. More wear on roads? Are roads going to get even worse than they are now?

No, a truck engine/gearbox weights 1450Kg and the fuel 500 Kg then when you add in the weight of the cooling system and all other components an EV doesn't need i imagine there is not a huge difference between the two, we have a maximum weight for LGV's in the UK so they will not be allowed over that.

An EV uses regenerative braking which is not as harsh as manual breaking i imagine an EV would cause less damage not more.
 
Last edited:
On solar . The real issue solar is not cheap in its lifetime. Too much deterioration makes it a negative equation economic decision. Needs to be much cheaper to make it work
Have you got figures to back this up?

In my head, efficiency deterioration is around 0.5% per year meaning effective lifespan is around 30 years for modern panels.
Average uk electric is 34p per kWh at the minute given an 8 year payback for the typical household.

So 20+ years in the black by my reckoning.
 
Have you got figures to back this up?

In my head, efficiency deterioration is around 0.5% per year meaning effective lifespan is around 30 years for modern panels.
Average uk electric is 34p per kWh at the minute given an 8 year payback for the typical household.

So 20+ years in the black by my reckoning.

Having recently got a quote for panels that's not far off what I was told, panels and battery paid off in 10 years. 25 year warranty and I think they said less deterioration than that, but I'm sure that's what they would say, it must be ballpark.
 
I’ve had my solar panels for coming up to 13 years now and have been monitoring output since installation. Obviously some years are sunnier than other but I haven’t seen any noticeable degradation in output. If anything, it’s increasing!

IMG_6681.png
 

Latest posts

Back
Top