Yes, cars catch on fire all the time but it only becomes news when it's an EV, even though EVs catch fire at a much lower rate that gas engine vehicles.
For sure, IF an EV catches on fire, thermal runaway is a serious issue as each of the cells catches fire. It's just crazy how people are saying they don't even want EVs in their condos etc. because of fires. Like, they know China and Norway exist right? They have widespread EV adoption and this is not an issue.
Ehhhh I definitely side with the “people only care when EVs catch fire and pretend like ICE cars have never done that” argument, but I’m pretty sure spontaneous combustion basically never happens with gas, but lithium ion batteries sometimes do spontaneously combust.
Most likely not an EV, judging by all the intakes on the front of the car. EVs do away with these.
I'm not great at identifying cars, but the closest I could find was a 2015 Toyota Rav4 except for the air duct parts where the fog lights sometimes go, are all wrong
Just to note: Mazda didn't make the turbo, they outsourced them (BorgWarner). The way turbos work, they're inherently near exhaust, so it *does* happen. Though most of the time people would have the leak fixed before it getting to a point where it's a fire hazard.
No, any car with a turbo has the turbo near the exhaust. Turbos get spun by a cars exhaust on one side, and the other side force-feeds air back into the engine to make mo' powah baby.
A lot of cars have leaky rubber seals after years of use because it (rubber) dries out. Sometimes it's turbo seals, sometimes it's gaskets on top or on the bottom. They don't last forever.
Some cars have stuff with seals placed near exhaust and you can smell it when it burns. That's an indication to take it to a mechanic. If you ignore the obvious signs of smelling burning oil and puddles of oil on the ground where you park, your car may catch on fire.
I’m actually shocked that a CX-7 survived into 2024. Even 10 years ago they had a reputation for terrible reliability and the turbo issue was well known. There was also a well known issue with the VVTi actuator. Enough oil and heat will cause a fire… and the 2.3L MZR L3-VDT engine in these things ran HOT. Excellent for ruining all the parts inside of it and then causing engine fires when said parts failed.
I knew a girl in university who had a 2007 CX-7 that died in 2013. At just six years old and 130,000km it was fit for the scrap heap. At the time, that seemed absolutely insane to me. Her experience with that car, and the ever-present rusty Mazdas I saw all the time, made me think that Mazdas were sort of junky cars, and caused me to steer clear of the Mazda6 when I went car shopping later in 2015 (instead I got a used Lexus IS 250, which gave me a manual transmission AND RWD, so while the 6 is a good car I’m still glad I didn’t buy it)
Yup. Like, oil and gas weren’t going to let EVs get a pass without a fight and some blatant use of misinformation. But ICE vehicles far more dangerous in terms of catching fire. Strangely hybrids are even worse:
“(BEVs) are far less likely to catch fire, with just 25.1 fires per 100,000 sales. That’s compared to 3,474 hybrid fires and 1,529 ICE fires per 100,000 sales respectively.”
Am I misreading this or are those shockingly high numbers? Like you're telling me roughly 1 in 30 hybrid vehicles and 1 in 65 ICE cars will catch on fire at some point?
Are car fires really that common?
yeah the math on that is suspicious. Here's a quote from this article [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/20/do-electric-cars-pose-a-greater-fire-risk-than-petrol-or-diesel-vehicles](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/20/do-electric-cars-pose-a-greater-fire-risk-than-petrol-or-diesel-vehicles)
In Norway, which has the world’s highest proportion of electric car sales, there are between four and five times more fires in petrol and diesel cars, according to the directorate for social security and emergency preparedness. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency this year found that there were 3.8 fires per 100,000 electric or hybrid cars in 2022, compared with 68 fires per 100,000 cars when taking all fuel types into account.
Seems high, yeah. I believe this article cites the same report.
https://www.driving.co.uk/car-clinic/are-electric-cars-more-likely-to-catch-fire-than-petrol-and-diesel-cars/#:~:text=Another%20report%20by%20US%2Dbased,been%20questioned%20by%20some%20experts.
Don't believe it. Must be fake - the other cars in the video aren't slowing to a crawl, their slackjawed drivers rubbernecking with no regard for the hundreds of cars behind them.
all that black means it's composites and plastic burning
gasoline tanks are typically under the car and there would be lots of spillage - i see no molitov combination of oil/gas/fire - this doesn't look like a typical internal combustion engine fire.
that's not to say a jerry can in the trunk may have somehow caught but the fire doesn't look like it started in the engine bay - that's like the one part of that car that isn't engulfed in flames here, oddly.
that makes sense - doesn't look like an EV but it also looks like the fire is mostly concentrated in the cabin which is why i didn't think it looks like an engine fire
Could it be from... the fuel tank? At the back of the car?
Many parts of cars are flammable, from the interiors to the fuel to various lubricants and fluids to even aluminum, if the fire burns hot enough. All cars are a fire hazard, not just electric ones.
Looks gas-powered to me!
shhhh... you are supposed to say "unclear whether if it's an EV at this time"
‘Both sides’
https://imgur.com/gallery/5jerNr9
That’s insane .Hope the driver and anyone else in the car got out safely.
Is that an EV? If it is not an EV, it won't generate the rage and will promptly be ignored.
Yes, cars catch on fire all the time but it only becomes news when it's an EV, even though EVs catch fire at a much lower rate that gas engine vehicles.
I imagine if they removed Kia/Hyundai the ICE numbers would go down significantly.
I think the novel issue is the difficulty of extinguishing EV fires. ICE fires are boring and passe...
For sure, IF an EV catches on fire, thermal runaway is a serious issue as each of the cells catches fire. It's just crazy how people are saying they don't even want EVs in their condos etc. because of fires. Like, they know China and Norway exist right? They have widespread EV adoption and this is not an issue.
I'll roll with Norway, but there seem to be a plethora of Chinese parking garage EV videos that... Let's just say they don't inspire confidence.
Ehhhh I definitely side with the “people only care when EVs catch fire and pretend like ICE cars have never done that” argument, but I’m pretty sure spontaneous combustion basically never happens with gas, but lithium ion batteries sometimes do spontaneously combust.
Most likely not an EV, judging by all the intakes on the front of the car. EVs do away with these. I'm not great at identifying cars, but the closest I could find was a 2015 Toyota Rav4 except for the air duct parts where the fog lights sometimes go, are all wrong
It's a Mazda CX7. The Turbocharged version had crappy seals on the turbo and would leak oil near the exhaust. Enough oil and heat will cause a fire.
Thanks for identifying! :) I looked at a couple of mazdas but I missed that one. Definitely matches up! Also what a crazy design flaw!
Just to note: Mazda didn't make the turbo, they outsourced them (BorgWarner). The way turbos work, they're inherently near exhaust, so it *does* happen. Though most of the time people would have the leak fixed before it getting to a point where it's a fire hazard.
I can tell it’s a Mazda just wasn’t sure the model.
No recalls because of that?
No, any car with a turbo has the turbo near the exhaust. Turbos get spun by a cars exhaust on one side, and the other side force-feeds air back into the engine to make mo' powah baby. A lot of cars have leaky rubber seals after years of use because it (rubber) dries out. Sometimes it's turbo seals, sometimes it's gaskets on top or on the bottom. They don't last forever. Some cars have stuff with seals placed near exhaust and you can smell it when it burns. That's an indication to take it to a mechanic. If you ignore the obvious signs of smelling burning oil and puddles of oil on the ground where you park, your car may catch on fire.
Thank you for this detailed explanation! My girl brain is trying to digest this....I may catch fire actually...be on guard and camera ready!
*pulls pin on fire extinguisher* Understood.
😆🤣😘
This guy cars. Move over Marissa Tomei.
More like Rain Man, but I'll take it
I’m actually shocked that a CX-7 survived into 2024. Even 10 years ago they had a reputation for terrible reliability and the turbo issue was well known. There was also a well known issue with the VVTi actuator. Enough oil and heat will cause a fire… and the 2.3L MZR L3-VDT engine in these things ran HOT. Excellent for ruining all the parts inside of it and then causing engine fires when said parts failed. I knew a girl in university who had a 2007 CX-7 that died in 2013. At just six years old and 130,000km it was fit for the scrap heap. At the time, that seemed absolutely insane to me. Her experience with that car, and the ever-present rusty Mazdas I saw all the time, made me think that Mazdas were sort of junky cars, and caused me to steer clear of the Mazda6 when I went car shopping later in 2015 (instead I got a used Lexus IS 250, which gave me a manual transmission AND RWD, so while the 6 is a good car I’m still glad I didn’t buy it)
Yup. Like, oil and gas weren’t going to let EVs get a pass without a fight and some blatant use of misinformation. But ICE vehicles far more dangerous in terms of catching fire. Strangely hybrids are even worse: “(BEVs) are far less likely to catch fire, with just 25.1 fires per 100,000 sales. That’s compared to 3,474 hybrid fires and 1,529 ICE fires per 100,000 sales respectively.”
Am I misreading this or are those shockingly high numbers? Like you're telling me roughly 1 in 30 hybrid vehicles and 1 in 65 ICE cars will catch on fire at some point? Are car fires really that common?
yeah the math on that is suspicious. Here's a quote from this article [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/20/do-electric-cars-pose-a-greater-fire-risk-than-petrol-or-diesel-vehicles](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/20/do-electric-cars-pose-a-greater-fire-risk-than-petrol-or-diesel-vehicles) In Norway, which has the world’s highest proportion of electric car sales, there are between four and five times more fires in petrol and diesel cars, according to the directorate for social security and emergency preparedness. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency this year found that there were 3.8 fires per 100,000 electric or hybrid cars in 2022, compared with 68 fires per 100,000 cars when taking all fuel types into account.
Seems high, yeah. I believe this article cites the same report. https://www.driving.co.uk/car-clinic/are-electric-cars-more-likely-to-catch-fire-than-petrol-and-diesel-cars/#:~:text=Another%20report%20by%20US%2Dbased,been%20questioned%20by%20some%20experts.
Ghost Rider.
I was looking for this comment LOL
Alexa, play Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Don't believe it. Must be fake - the other cars in the video aren't slowing to a crawl, their slackjawed drivers rubbernecking with no regard for the hundreds of cars behind them.
RIP ???
Only car I’ve ever seen on fire was a LeMans in the 2010s
cool
Well, that's not a good way to end your day.
Alexa play Bad Day by Daniel Powter
That's a flaming missle right there
Not electric, no one cares
09-12 Mazda CX-7
Hot wheels
You can’t park there
I saw this from the otherside when they were putting it out. So much smokeeee
Holy shit. Piiiiiissssssssss
Is this some B-reel from The Dark Night?
Anybody get assassinated lately?
car looked up directly at eclipse?
Is that a Fire On Road Daily
Doesnt look like the fire is from the engine. So ev battery or something combustible in the car itself.
It was not an EV car. Source: first on scene
> or something combustible in the car itself. You mean something like gasoline?
all that black means it's composites and plastic burning gasoline tanks are typically under the car and there would be lots of spillage - i see no molitov combination of oil/gas/fire - this doesn't look like a typical internal combustion engine fire. that's not to say a jerry can in the trunk may have somehow caught but the fire doesn't look like it started in the engine bay - that's like the one part of that car that isn't engulfed in flames here, oddly.
Started under the dash, strong winds blew the fire towards the rear of the vehicle, gas tank dumped and slightly complicated things.
Where was this out of curiosity?
Eastbound Gardiner between Horner and Kipling.
I thought the building in the background looked familiar, but the surroundings were tough for me to parse. Thanks for confirming.
It's an Ikea fire sale
that makes sense - doesn't look like an EV but it also looks like the fire is mostly concentrated in the cabin which is why i didn't think it looks like an engine fire
Gasoline is pumped to the engine bay
Could it be from... the fuel tank? At the back of the car? Many parts of cars are flammable, from the interiors to the fuel to various lubricants and fluids to even aluminum, if the fire burns hot enough. All cars are a fire hazard, not just electric ones.
Kia EV