Dayaks
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2012
- Messages
- 9,773
The automatic door handles and lithium batteries are why this is a worse problem than an ICE car.
In a high speed crash, there are two areas where the Tesla door handles can fail (electrical/mechanical), instead of one (mechanical).
Secondly, lithium catches on fire when it is exposed to AIR - gas requires an ignition source. There is also a much greater surface area for lithium to be exposed - the batteries run underneath most of the entire body, versus just inside the rear wheels.
Despite its defenders, this would make Teslas inherently more dangerous.
And the lithium batteries have cascade failure. One starts to burn and it spreads. Like you said the gas has to spill in a large volume and ignite. Gas is also generally located towards the back of the vehicle so you need multiple unforunate things to happen to actually engulf the drivers area.
Not a super big fan of all electrics for various reasons. Cost, utility, range, ect.