Mestre accident: we need to rethink the safety of electric vehicles
The fire of the bus that fell from the overpass in Mestre, with its tragic toll, should force us to think more carefully about the problem of public transport safety, especially public transport. The problem is not only linked to the use of lithium batteries, but also to the greater weight that an electric vehicle has compared to an ICE traction vehicle due to the weight of the batteries.
There is now some literature on the riskiness of electric mobility based on lithium batteries, especially due to the widespread use of them in China. For example, this recent research analyzes in some depth the case history of fires, quite a few, which occurred after the spread of electric mobility in China and elsewhere. Among other things, unnoticed, there is a certain seasonality in fires, as can be seen from the graph below.
It then appears clear that fires are directly linked to accidents: over half of the accidents happen after traumatic events, with the rupture of the batteries themselves, the leakage of the liquid that normally divides the cathode and anode. Furthermore, accidents cause the breakdown of cooling systems and facilitate the phenomenon of so-called thermal runaway, which is then the basis of the fire.
Buses catching fire in China
Here the passengers escape just in time when the bus catches fire
The risk associated with electric mobility must be addressed. We know that this will appear non-ecological and far from the current green philosophy, but we must address the problem of the safety of electric mobility, even at the cost of interrupting its introduction and waiting for technology to propose better solutions. Sodium chloride batteries are already being introduced which are much more convenient and, above all, safe, because they are solid state. Why accelerate the introduction of immature technologies and not take the time to develop better solutions. Also because we may all find ourselves on an electric bus that is still not sufficiently safe.
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The article Mestre accident: we need to rethink the safety of electric vehicles comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/incidente-di-mestre-bisogna-ripensare-la-sicurezza-dei-veicoli-elettrici/ on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 12:48:18 +0000.