Agencies
beijing
Electric vehicles are proving to be a big failure in China. Many vehicles are catching fire without any serious reason. According to statistics from China’s Emergency Management Department, in the first quarter of 2023 an average of 8 EVS caught fire every day marking a 32 percent increase compared to previous periods.
Additionally, another case highlighted an incident involving a Lee Auto car crashing into a large truck destroying the pillars responsible for supporting the vehicle’s roof side and doors this incident comes shortly after a Chinguen L7 accident in Guangdong.It’s not just the accidents themselves that are alarming but also how easily the car’s pillars got destroyed.
Passenger safety doesn’t rely solely on the number of airbags rather it hinges on a robust and sturdy body. Without pillars passengers have nowhere to seek Refuge. In another case, a small X-peng car catching fire while passing over a stone, the Blogger pointed out that while severe collisions may lead to fires it’s unacceptable for a mere encounter with a stone to ignite the underside batterypack.
This incident the second of its kind within a month raises doubts about the safety of X-peng cars prompt in calls for the company to invest more resources in research development and safety testing. Some netizens said they weren’t surprised suggesting that it must be the lithium batteries. As the Chinese Communist Party CCP pushes for the development of what they call new energy vehicles the country’s inventory has reached 20.4 million.
However, reliance on lithium batteries leads to occasional charging accidents, industry experts attribute battery pack fires as the primary cause of charging accidents. Manufacturing defects or the inability to fully eliminate static electricity can result in short circuit’s arcs or thermal runaway fires with the increasing popularity of electric vehicles. Such safety incidents are expected to rise.
New Energy electric vehicles not only frequently experience incidents like spontaneous combustion and explosions but also struggle to cope with slightly adverse weather conditions. During the 2024, Chinese New Year travel season the country faced the most severe rain snow and freezing weather in 15 years. Such conditions left many vehicles stranded on highways particularly, impacting electric cars even when stationary electric cars face the risk of power outage.
Due to battery consumption, with a lack of charging stations along the way many drivers refrain from using heaters choosing to endure the cold. Consequently, EV drivers often find themselves waiting for towing assistance while some resortto pushing their vehicles several kilometers to find charging points.
