The fiery, deadly crashes involving the Tesla Cybertruck

(theguardian.com)

10 points | by t-vi 14 hours ago ago

4 comments

  • rob74 14 hours ago ago

    > The term for the phenomenon, which can happen when there’s physical damage to the batteries, is “thermal runaway”. Battery fires also reach much higher temperatures than gasoline fires, making it easier for other parts of the vehicle to ignite.

    Using Li-ion technology was all well and fine when Tesla was just a startup building a quirky roadster, but I wish there would have been more effort put into finding safer alternatives. The way it's going right now, the "reputation damage" caused by these fires will probably outlast the real danger, if a safer alternative is really adopted one day.

    • ZeroGravitas 9 hours ago ago

      About 50% of all EVs and coincidentally 50% of Teslas use the safer replacement LFP.

      Globally that is mostly Chinese made/sold though.

      EU is more like 10%, USA 5%

      It's generally used for lower end models though.

  • jqpabc123 14 hours ago ago

    They should be macho.

    Nothing says "macho" like a flaming coffin with no escape --- or Elon Musk.

    • rob74 14 hours ago ago

      Yeah, maybe it's some kind of poetic justice for people who buy a tank-like car that looks designed to mow down unsuspecting pedestrians and cyclists, that can't be sold in the EU because of (amongst many other issues) a complete lack of pedestrian protection features? You might feel safe in your macho Cybertruck, but be careful to not get into an accident, because it might turn into your personal cremation oven?