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7th November 2025, 08:39 AM
DoubleChevron

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

I find it remarkable the hysteria in here about lithium battery fires. To the point where it's IMHO quite comical.

However one area that I think probably is worthy of concern is cheap e-mobility devices. It seems that the poor quality of batteries and chargers, and size of the batteries are resulting in many fires. I think this concern is legit.

What astonishes me is that I've never heard of a name brand ebike catching fire. I did a little chat GPT time. There are no verified reports of a bosch ebike anywhere in the world catching fire. There are no published numbers on the number of ebikes sold, but they did state in 2020 that they made 1.5 million that year alone. So it's a lot. It would appear they are very safe.

There is a video below with Bosch's head of ebikes. I listened to a long interview with him. About the only thing I took from it was they don't recommend them charging them unattended. Given there have been no fires it's probably the lawyers telling them to say that but none the less. Given most bikes charge in a relatively short time I don't think i

My bike cage at work is being rebuilt to be fire proof. [bighmmm]. I think this is an over reaction as they don't allow charging of devices and it's a giant concrete underground car park. A 6kg ebike battery isn't going to get that on fire. Perhaps they should have just banned giant scooters which have significantly larger batteries - typically 12-20 kg of cheap cells.

Emerald community grieving after four people die in central Queensland house fire - ABC News

Consumers warned off cheap e-bikes and e-scooters as NSW records hundreds of battery fires - ABC News

https://youtu.be/GFBtib-6ryk?si=IiBMKo1Wt_GBl_Tu

Only the zealots would ever claim this. In the last week we have had:

Jeep recalls 375,000 plug-in hybrids due to fire threat. Owners warned not to charge or park cars near structures | CNN Business

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/electric-bus-catches-fire-under-bridge-on-constellation-drive-police-say-to-avoid-area/

EV fire damages four vehicles and dealership building in Franklin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TEb_MkhM_w

https://interestingengineering.com/t...st-into-flames

that took me about 15 seconds to find on google. nothing to see here at all

You have to love these perfectly safe batteries [bigrolf]
7th November 2025, 09:14 AM
Tombie

We can certainly agree on that.
Well known bike brands making “e-pedal” bikes are using quality circuits and cells.
I haven’t seen any reports of them burning up.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the DIY and cheap “e-motorbikes” (and that’s what they are) which can suffer from poor installation, poor construction etc. these are well documented for letting the smoke out.

The fire guarding on a building is a good idea, also likely to be an insurance requirement nowadays.
7th November 2025, 09:44 AM
Captain_Rightfoot
Quote:

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Only the zealots would ever claim this. In the last week we have had:

Jeep recalls 375,000 plug-in hybrids due to fire threat. Owners warned not to charge or park cars near structures | CNN Business

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/electric-bus-catches-fire-under-bridge-on-constellation-drive-police-say-to-avoid-area/

EV fire damages four vehicles and dealership building in Franklin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TEb_MkhM_w

Li Mega electric MPV catches sudden fire, burns down to '''skeletal frame'''

that took me about 15 seconds to find on google. nothing to see here at all

You have to love these perfectly safe batteries [bigrolf]

I don't have a problem with the YT channel linked. I think he's well qualified to educate about EV fires. I for one have never said they don't happen, because they do.

But, his business is doing this. He looks around the world for EV fires that are interesting to talk about.

Can you imagine if someone started a YT channel looking at all the ICE fires around the world. You could probably do non stop streaming 24/7. But would anyone watch?

Owning an EV's are an order of magnitude safer from a fire risk perspective.

I expect we will continue learning about their transport, and we will continue to see models of EV's for various reasons which have issues and are recalled and fixed by manufacturers. I asked chat GPT to pull up a list of recalls for fire risk in the last five years in Australia. I didn't ask for EV's to be excluded.
Quote:
Quick summary (selected recalls, vehicles affected)

Kia — HECU electrical short / engine-compartment fire (multiple model campaigns, 2009–2019 builds) — 104,101 affected (sum of the model-by-model recalls listed by Kia/Australian recall pages). Kia Singapore+1
Nissan J12 Qashqai (2022–2024) — wiring harness near 12-V battery may lead to a fire — 11,107 affected. Vehicle Recalls
Mazda BT-50 (2020–2021) — incorrectly routed fuel hose could leak and cause fire — 10,957 affected. Vehicle Recalls
GWM Cannon (2023) — fuel-filter O-ring lubricant error → potential fuel leak / fire — 2,872 affected. Vehicle Recalls
Hyundai Kona (2023 SX2 1.6 T-GDI) — wiring short risk after collision → possible fire — 1,726 affected. Vehicle Recalls
BMW (520i / X3 — 2024–2025) — starter-generator connection defect could generate heat/fire — 273 affected. Vehicle Recalls
McLaren Artura (2022–2023) — fuel pipe assembly may detach → fuel leak / fire — 24 affected. Vehicle Recalls
Mercedes-Benz GLE (2021) — loose 12-V wiring nut → electrical resistance → fire risk — 4 affected. Vehicle Recalls
Honda Civic Hybrid (2022) — battery cell terminal manufacture fault → possible lithium-ion battery fire — 2affected. Vehicle Recalls
Ferrari SF90 (2023) — turbo oil pipe could leak causing engine-bay fire — 35 affected. Vehicle Recalls

Total (sum of the items above): ~131,101 vehicles.
7th November 2025, 10:05 AM
DoubleChevron

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

I don't have a problem with the YT channel linked. I think he's well qualified to educate about EV fires. I for one have never said they don't happen, because they do.

But, his business is doing this. He looks around the world for EV fires that are interesting to talk about.

Can you imagine if someone started a YT channel looking at all the ICE fires around the world. You could probably do non stop streaming 24/7. But would anyone watch?

Owning an EV's are an order of magnitude safer from a fire risk perspective.

I expect we will continue learning about their transport, and we will continue to see models of EV's for various reasons which have issues and are recalled and fixed by manufacturers. I asked chat GPT to pull up a list of recalls for fire risk in the last five years in Australia. I didn't ask for EV's to be excluded.

Wrong comparison, you need to compare battery fires to battery fires. The fact the battery is being moved around in a vehicle is not relevant. I can put out an ICE vehicle fire with my garden hose. They are somehting we have handled with ease for over 100years.
7th November 2025, 12:37 PM
Captain_Rightfoot

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Wrong comparison, you need to compare battery fires to battery fires. The fact the battery is being moved around in a vehicle is not relevant. I can put out an ICE vehicle fire with my garden hose. They are somehting we have handled with ease for over 100years.

I've no idea what you're saying. ICE vehicle fires are real fires that aren't always easy to put out and they happen an order of magnitude more than EV fires.

Three homes lost, three people in hospital after fire engulfs Grange street in north Brisbane - ABC News

"Oh well.. at least it wasn't an EV. They are really hard to put out." Unhelpful.

https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn...862&height=575

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