this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2026
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EVs are already safer than ICE cars. Specifically regarding catching fire, they are about 20 times safer on average, people seem to forget ICE cars are literally exploding gas 2 feet away from their crotches
The biggest difference (from a fire perspective) is that firefighters can't just throw water on an electric car in an emergency. Fires are less common for electric cars, but dealing with them when they are on fire is a lot more difficult (metal fires are nasty). There are some specialty suppressants that can be used, but they aren't widely available - they're expensive compared to water, you can't just get them out of a city water hookup, and it's difficult for a firetruck to carry them in high volume. Common practice is to just let an electric car fire burn itself out.
This battery design sounds like it won't self-ignite from overheating, which is good. But... crashes would be a concern. If the car were overheating or on fire (upholstery, gasoline splash from an ICE vehicle, lubricant oil, etc) it would be difficult to deal with safely. Sodium and water is... kind of spectacular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4aVueFmOHo
Buddy, gasoline fires cannot be put out with water either, Firefighters are trained to just contain them... basically same situation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_1QoDUUFH0
Yea...they can, the video you posted even talkes about how they would put it out. You starve it of oxygen and cool the fuel down to pre-ignition temps.
you can't do what they displayed on the vid with a size car fire… they do contain them more easily though
But sodium ions and water are something we deal with on a daily basis, when we salt food. The characteristics of elemental sodium, as a metal, are basically irrelevant to discussing its safety as ions or bonded in molecules.
But gasoline when ignited can be extinguished. And most ICE cars have manually operated door handles. And if they don't they usually have an easily accessible manual release that's not hidden or difficult to operate because "mEh 100k cAr NeEdS sTyLe"
I'm pro ICE btw, stick my dick in exhaust pipes whenever I can!
My ev has manually operated doors, because electrically operated door handles are stupid. Just one reason I have an EV made by a real car company.
The reason gas cars are easily extinguished when they catch fire is because gas cars have been a thing for over 100 years and every fire department in the country has the equipment to put out a gasoline fire. A battery fire is a metal fire, and not every department has the right equipment for that. But more and more departments do.
Not with water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_1QoDUUFH0
So do most EVs... let's not assume all EVs are shitty Teslas