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Videos of burning Teslas more than a decade ago may have been the single biggest factor in the anti-EV attitudes of millions of people. They were damned scary, and even those of us who were staunch advocates of the EV revolution were shocked by how violent they were. Blaring headlines screamed about first responders getting crash courses in how to extinguish battery fires. HOAs all across the US voted to ban electric cars from their properties.
The Washington Post reported this week that there are currently 3.2 million vehicles in the US that have been tagged with a “park outside” safety warning, according to an analysis by CarFax. The vast majority of them are not electric cars. In fact, the danger in most cases comes from “always on” electronics that stay active even when the vehicle is parked.
We would never suggest that a car fire is not a serious issue, but battery fires affected only about a dozen first-generation Chevy Bolts and the fallout cost GM and LG Chem over $1 billion. How is it that the general public does not know the owners of more than 3 million vehicles — most of them with gasoline or diesel engines — are currently being told to park their vehicles outside away from their homes because of the risk of spontaneous fires while parked?
