Category: Musings

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Ya Know… I’m becoming increasingly uncomfortable with EVs

In principal I like Electric Vehicles.

From a user perspective, I don’t like the range issues, I don’t like the time to recharge, I question the reality of their “Green” status, and I especially don’t like the expense to purchase one.

Lately I’ve been noticing articles describing fires where the vehicle appears to spontaneously start burning.

If you’re old enough, you may remember that most car fires seen in the summertime were VWs. This was a simple maintenance issue. If you didn’t pay attention to the oil level in the engine, then tried to fly down an LA freeway in 100°F temps, the engine block could catch fire. Folks who had their VW bug catch fire would almost always have time to get out of the car, and the fire dept would put the fire out in just a few minutes. Any vehicle fire is a big deal, especially if it happens in an area prone to wildfires.

Tesla p90 d in flames 800x400

My concern is that the EV fires often can’t easily be extinguished. Once compromised, the batteries continue to expose more lithium to the atmosphere which feeds the fire. Even cooling down after the initial cells that burned are extinguished, the surrounding battery cells can continue to melt. Then the cycle repeats.

There are multiple videos of Teslas bursting into flames while parked. One consistent thing I noticed in those videos is what looks like a torch blowing several feet away from the vehicle. This torch in all the videos I’ve watched, show up on the driver’s side of the vehicle between the driver’s door and the wheel.

One video shows a Tesla beginning to burn in a parking garage parked next to an Audi. I’d imagine that the Tesla’s insurance carrier wasn’t thrilled about having to cover a Tesla and an Audi. Other videos are available that show a Tesla that had already burned, been extinguished, and towed to an impound or junkyard lot, spontaneously reigniting the next day.

There is a report of a Tesla catching fire, shorting out the electronics and refusing to unlock the doors. The driver was trapped inside the vehicle at the time. Fortunately, a passerby found a handy brick to shatter the window with.

All of these incidents are concerning. Thus far, they’re few in number.

My concern is the increasing number of people driving Teslas in my community. We’re a mountain town, we are surrounded by forest, with the drought in California, the trees and brush are very dry. A careless cigarette or spark can cause a blaze that spreads very rapidly.

What happens when a Tesla, a Jaguar, or any of the other EV vehicles on the road catch fire in a driveway or wooded neighborhood?

Granted the same concern exists for a standard gas car, motorcycle, dirt bike, or quad runner. However, in all those instances the fire department can throw water on the whole mess and that’s the end of it. With an electric vehicle, that’s not the case.

What happens if the electric vehicle catches fire again while it’s being towed out of the area? Now you’ve got a torch literally being driven through a forest. If there’s already a brush fire being fought where the EV originally caught fire, resources are committed to that location. Then you have the same vehicle cause another fire a mile or two away because it flared up again?

How are the insurance companies going to handle an event as described? Does the EV owner’s auto insurance cover an entire neighborhood being burned?

Is this why auto and homeowner policies are rising so fast? Some insurance companies are already refusing to write homeowner policies in California due to the increased brush fire hazard.

They did the same thing years ago with earthquake policies. Now everyone has a shitty earthquake policy administered by the State of California. I say shitty, because the maximum payout is far less than the payout I had when my insurance company sold earthquake insurance. The California max payout wouldn’t begin to cover repairs to my home. I’d lose my home, or be forced to remortgage or sell at a substantial loss, and the payout from the state wouldn’t make a downpayment on a new home. For all I know, California might find a way to take taxes out of the payout too.

Can a community legitimately prevent EVs from being used within hazardous fire zones?

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Here we are, another September 11th.

Twenty one years later I still remember the complete disbelief I felt watching the event unfold on TV.

Oddly, I knew somewhere deep in my heart that we’d never be the same.

Children born on this day in 2001 can now have a beer. I guess that means that we can also look at 9/11 with maturity.

I think I missed it last year. I just didn’t want to see The President blathering on, marking the 20th anniversary. This year perhaps he’ll be too busy preparing for his trip to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral to damn the boogie man of MAGA extremists in what should be an otherwise solemn occasion.

God, I hope he doesn’t send Kamala. I don’t think anyone in the country would appreciate her cackling at an inappropriate moment or one of her infamous circular word salads.

I wouldn’t even be too surprised if Biden sent Ilhan Omar to be his representation. That seems to be the amount of respect he holds for the country.

I’m planning on spending the day quietly. I’ll be observing the day in thought and reflection. A lot went wrong that day, a lot went right too. There were brave first responders who risked it all to help others. The bravery of the people who fought the hijackers in flight and who died doing so. We can’t know how many people on the ground they saved by preventing flight 93 from hitting its target. All we can know is that they stood up and said, “NO!”

There were other prices we paid that day. The patriot act came into being in the months following, which led directly to abridgment of some of our freedoms in the name of illusory safety. The TSA came into being and has become the bane of most air travelers in our nation. We paid the price of 20 years of war in Afghanistan. 

To be sure there were other prices paid.

Some insurance companies and pensions refused to accept that the first responders illnesses were caused by their work on 9/11.  Firefighters and Police who responded that day developed sicknesses that were only acknowledged as being 9/11 related, many years after the event.

In some cases financial aid that came with that acknowledgement was far too little too late as they’d already lost everything fighting their illness. Their children have also paid the price, their parents illness caused disruption in their lives, the family’s financial strain in some cases caused their dreams of college to vanish.

The cost of that day reverberates through our society even now. 

Reflection seems appropriate today.

Hug your loved ones, be kind to each other.

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Wildfire Season

Wildfire

Awake at 3:00AM

At first I’m not sure what woke me up. As I lay there my awareness expands.

The house is silent, as is the neighborhood. The sound of crickets is normal, and the oppressive heat of the day has abated.

There’s a coolish breeze blowing through the open windows. The dog is sleeping, I can tell by his snoring he’s probably laying on his back under the breeze from the ceiling fan.

Completing the evaluation of my immediate surroundings I notice there’s the scent of smoke in the air.

From experience, I know it’s the smell of a brush fire. The smell isn’t strong, nor is it the same smell that is present when the fire is close.

Somehow this smells “cooler” like it’s traveled a distance.

It is strong enough that it woke me. There hadn’t been any smoky smell when I went to bed.

Instinct is interesting. We think of sleep as “Turning Off” but that’s not really true. It’s just a different state of awareness. Somewhere in the deep primitive part of our brain there’s something monitoring our surroundings. An odd sound, light, or smell triggers a primal response.

That response in my case is accompanied by a hit of adrenaline that says, “Get your ass moving!”

The smell is strong. Apparently, it was enough to trigger my alert system. I can see the sky, and the stars clearly. I know there’s no smoke in the air, or rather not enough to obscure the sky. I roll over and try to go back to sleep.

I can’t.

The evacuation inventory list is playing in my head. What to take, what to leave, exit routes, and all the rest.

Eventually I can’t not think about fire.

I get up, wake the computer up, and start checking the Cal-Fire incident site.

The nearest reported fires are miles away, they’re 98% contained. The next nearest fire is in Hemet, 50 miles away so that’s not a threat to me. Although I note that two people  lost their lives. That’s bad. I don’t know the circumstances they were in but it reenforces my belief that if there’s a wildfire I’ll run, I’ll grab the dog, and what papers or sentimental items I can, and the rest can burn.

Anything can be replaced except your life and the lives of your loved ones.

For me though, tonite the damage is done. I pour myself a drink and write this blog. It’s going to take a while for the adrenaline to leave my system. 

Until then I’m not getting any sleep.

I hope your night was more restful.