An interesting map of Germany showing how the consumer intent tracks the political leaning. The former DDR states, where the AfD support is strong, have a much lower acceptance of EVs.

If so, is it because there’s a fear of EV’s themselves going up in flames, or is it a consideration of the electrical infrastructure of an old building, housing more people and electrical load than it was ever designed for, not being able to safely cope with a handful of cars, each pulling 7kW?

Presumably not fitting chargers and putting 3A fuses in all the 3 pin plugs in the car park should sort the latter excuse.

Perish the thought there might be a teeny sliver of hypocrisy coming from that place.

‘ Parliament bans EV cars in the House of Commons underground car park on Health and Safety grounds ! youtu.be/a2v6ckfcE_ Its interesting that the policy makers have decided not to allow charging in their building !’ You posted this last week, on the previous thread. This time it’s a random bloke on YouTube reading a press release. What we don’t know is the reasoning behind the ban on charging underground - is it a genuine fear of fire? If so, is it because there’s a fear of EV’s themselves going up in flames, or is it a consideration of the electrical infrastructure of an old building, housing more people and electrical load than it was ever designed for, not being able to safely cope with a handful of cars, each pulling 7kW?

See my previous comments from Sunday on Vol14 of this thread as to the likely reasons why. I do have a good amount of experience on this having worked on a number of projects there about 10 years ago, and the likelihood is that the electrical capacity problem (like so many there) has yet to be fixed.

To be fair, a building that old, built before electrical power was even a thing, will always struggle to meet modern demands without essentially gutting the place inside and refurbing from scratch.

As we now know, the politicians won't ever go for that, despite it being far cheaper and shorter in timescale than the 'make do and mend' option they've chosen, because it would obviously require the building to be completely shut down and for best part of 10-15 years.

Unfortunately the powers-that-be have known this (and of the many other big issues) for many decades now and have shied away from doing what is necessary, because on the surface, it looks bad from a PR standpoint, rather than doing the works in little bit over a much longer timeframe, costly vastly more, but keeping the place open.

When the Oxford professor J B Goodenough first invented the lithium ion battery in 1976 it was heralded as a major scientific breakthrough.

But his words to his team at the time was that he sincerely hoped that it would not have major domestic uptake because of the danger of thermal runaways causing major fires.

What we see happening all over the world in houses , flats , car showroom s etc reflect back to Goodenoughs warnings !

If anyone’s interested, a quick run through of the two different battery types you’ll see manufacturers talking about . Both are lithium ion batteries, but the terminology can be a little confusing. The longer established type is NMC (Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt). Pros - Higher levels of energy density - a car will go further per KG of battery. They typically produce 3.7v. Good cold and hot weather performance. Cons - Battery life cycle is shorter. Up to 3000 charge cycles. More expensive, and contentious, due to containing nickel, manganese and cobalt. Judged more susceptible to thermal runaway. More manufacturers are now adopting LFP packs - Lithium Ferrous (Iron) Phosphate. Pros - Life cycle. Potentially up to 10000 charge cycles. More chemically stable so less prone to thermal runaway and fire. No cobalt - so no more accusations of human rights abuses in DRC. Lower cost as a result of using lower cost constituents. More tolerant of repeated rapid charging, so faster charge speeds available at higher levels of SOC. Cons - lower energy density levels. 3.2v across a cell. For two identically size/weight of batteries, an NMC will go further than an LFP. They’re a bit more temperature sensitive - greater range drops at lower temperatures. Manufacturers are divided - BYD use LFP, Renault use NMC, Tesla use both. LFP is a lower priced offering, with greater longevity and perceived safety and environmental benefits, but if you want the ultimate in range then NMC is still the best solution.

Slightly better, but still. Ironically, my local KIA franchise moved around the corner (where the Vauxhall dealer used to be) and they've now set up a BYD franchise in the relatively new building they vacated. Ironically it was rebuilt about 6 years or so ago because the old one burned down due to some 'issue in the workshop'.

Given how many Li-Ion batteries are in an EV and the hugely higher current draw they charge with compared to a mobile phone, laptop or wireless power tools, the chances and especially the consequences of serious problems emanating from charging (whether via the supply itself, charging equipment / cabling or car / battery pack) is several magnitudes higher.

As this topic seems to have taken off, a well-known website has some interesting stats: www.honestjohn.co.uk/the-latest-car-fire-statistic.../

Apparently on average 25 EVs catch fire for every 100,000 sold, making them 20 times less likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel cars.

If I had to guess the cause. I'd go with a fault on the EVSE installation. Or the house wiring. I had an EVSE go faulty a year or so ago. It tripped every breaker in the house, garage etc. I'd consider that a successful test !

Doing my forensics on the old EVSE. Now i dont want to get too technical here but, there'd been a jet of flame out of the side of one gubbins box enough to scorch the inside of the case. Bad right? No. The safety systems kicked in, no harm done.

The specific breakers aren't cheap. From memory a couple of hundred. Maybe someone got a faulty one..