BMW i3 electric car plus battery pack [image credit: carmagazine.co.uk]
Over-sensitive and unpredictable lithium-based batteries continue to be a headache, for various reasons. Is the EV industry really ready for prime time, as government ‘net zero’ mandates take hold?
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Electric cars risk becoming effectively uninsurable as analysts struggle to put a price on battery repairs, the researcher for the car insurance industry has said. — The Telegraph reporting.
Jonathan Hewett, chief executive of Thatcham Research, the motor insurers’ automotive research centre, said a lack of “insight and understanding” about the cost of repairing damaged electric car batteries was pushing up premiums and resulting in some providers declining to provide cover altogether.
Electric cars can be particularly expensive to repair, costing around a quarter more to fix on average than a petrol or diesel vehicle.
Experts have previously warned electric vehicles are being written off after minor bumps because of the cost and complexity of fixing their batteries.
Mr Hewett said: “The challenge is that we have no way of understanding whether the battery has been compromised or damaged in any way.
“The threat of thermal runaway means that a catastrophic fire can take place if the cells of the battery have been damaged in a collision.
“What we’re struggling to understand at the moment is how we approach that diagnostic technique.
“It’s like a doctor trying to understand what’s wrong with you without any notes or an X-ray.”
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Mr Hewett said premiums would eventually begin to level out and match those of petrol and diesel cars once actuaries had the tools needed to better understand the risks of insuring electric cars, saying the issue would likely be “short term”.
However, he added: “The battery is an extremely expensive component of an electric vehicle and until we find efficient ways of dealing with it we have the challenge of high premiums for electric vehicles, which nobody wants.”
Some customers are now being quoted over £100 a week to insure their electric vehicles, with others reporting premiums doubling or tripling compared to a year before.
Full report here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
huh, well, we ‘d better watch that our HOMES will also suffer: containing Bikes, Cameras, Phones & Laptops …. We’re not dealing with the life spark from a Box of aspirins here. 1 Spark is all it takes.
Since electric ‘cars’ have been around since approximately 1884 in England they don’t appear to be popular with the general public for obvious reasons of distance covered between charging, length of time to recharge which make them only useful for short trips in cities (is that the reason for the WEF push to get everyone into cities?). Now we can add the very real possibility of catastrophic fires to that which makes me wonder about people that would risk their lives in one.
One notes large increases in premiums for ICE vehicles this year .
How long before EVs are banned from indoor car parks… and have special locations set aside for them in outdoor car parks? Who wants to risk their non-EV by parking next to (or on a level above) and EV?
My sister in law, a retired widow, decided not to buy a 7Th floor unit in a complex on Australias Gold Coast, because of fears of what battery cars may be parked in the underground car park, or what some other residents may do with electric scooters or bikes.
A wise lady I believe.
How will they reduce to ICE levels if the risks and costs are higher? People are just too scared to tell the truth.
Liardetg, yes because the chances of hitting an EV and be responsible for the write-off of the entire car have risen. A small bump that might result in a £1,000 claim may now be a £10,000 claim. EVs making driving more expensive for everyone.
LG Chem and LX Hausys develop material that delays battery thermal runaway
27 October 2023
LG Chem’s internal torch test subjected the 1.6 mm thin Special Flame Retardant CFT to temperatures exceeding 1,500 °C and pressure; the material did not melt, run down, or develop any holes even after 20 minutes. This is the industry’s highest level of flame blocking performance.
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The Special Flame Retardant CFT is solid and has low deformation under force (high rigidity), therefore it can be used in the top and bottom covers of large battery packs among electric vehicle battery components. It is expected that it will effectively delay the spread of flames in the event of an electric vehicle fire, helping to secure the time required for driver evacuation and fire suppression.
Thermal runaway phenomenon is one of the factors that delays the popularization of electric vehicles and has been considered a pain point for electric vehicle and battery customers.
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2023/10/20231027-lg.html
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More chance of living to tell the tale if your EV self-combusts.
Well as Gramps says: When there’s Farts coming, you know there’s a Train coming shortly ! to the amusement of the Bairnies hanging around!
IOW when you park up your vehicle, you can sleep in peace for the first 20 minutes ….. but I guess an alarm will be sounding in the meantime to clear the lines.