this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2025
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Batteries and liquid fuel are both hazardous in terms of catching fire, do you mean something else?
One can use natural gas (usually combined with some amount of gasoline). In terms of safety - if you've ever seen gas stations with concrete walls between fueling spots, that's where this is popular, so not very safe.
I've not seen those (may not be in my country). What do the concrete walls stop, explosions?
It's cheaper and more dangerous, and usually done where natural gas is much cheaper than gasoline. Yes, explosions.
When these batteries burn, they can't be put out except by cooling them down somehow because they contain their own oxidizer. So fire departments tend to just let them burn and send whatever metals and other chemicals into the atmosphere. A gasoline fire can be put out with fire suppressants that deprive it of air. Apart from that, the batteries are also hazardous in terms of their manufacturing and disposal lifecycle and also just by making vehicles heavier. Heavier vehicles mean more energetic collisions and they also require bigger brakes, which means more brake dust pollution.
I think that refers to lithium ion batteries. Some EVs use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) which can still can catch fire but can be starved of oxygen. Sadly it is heavier but it is made without the immorally sourced cobalt.