Former Top Gear Presenter Explains How Electric Car FIres Can Be “Almost impossible” To Put Out

[@stevenham1937]

You can’t have an honest discussion if you start it by quoting figures based on total fires and forget to mention that ev’s are a much lower percentage of the total car figure. If you adjust it by total cars on the road it’s a completely different percentage. You also need to adjust the figure to acknowledge how many hybrids have had fires and also take in to account how old the cars were that caught fire. The trouble with Quentin and his friends over at fully charged is they never like to debate educated experts but instead do tricks like the above. It would be interesting to see the total car fire ratio for cars only manufactured over the last 5 years and see them adjusted by total qty.

[@stevelane1956]

Wilson is bought and paid for from the EV companies, sold his soul £££££

[@consul6262]

Great points. I will be honest I've never liked Quentin, always struck as someone I wouldn't trust as far I could throw him. He would obviously follow the line of whatever organisation pays him, so as soon as he was introduced I thought he comes more B.S

[@garymilliken2988]

You also have to break down ICE fires into initial cause; arson, accident, electrical and of course (based on the EV) parked/not running, then compare the data!

[@mikeman584]

Quentin is at his work not being honest

[@itspart]

Was saying the same thing... he is payed stooge!

[@Renegade1127]

It's pointless saying EV sales are 20% when the vast majority of that is FLEET sales. Companies get tax breaks, joe public doesn't. And hire companies make PROFIT from those EV's so it's a bonus to those firms.

[@philg7889]

Cretin Wilson actually quoted an EV percentage of fires, even though they are insignificant compared to the total number of ICE vehicles on the road. Anything over 1% of EVs going up in flames means they are a massive problem. This is spurious rubbish Mr Wilson, and I think you know it.

[@paulchamberlain6284]

I suspect he was reading from a carefully written script.

[@JAJL667]

Kevin had no info/questions to challenge him with. Very poor TalkTV!

[@JensSchraeder]

ICE cars don’t spontaneously combust in your garage and burn your house down.

[@Neojhun]

Stop with the insane lies. You fail at basic mathematics. Fire PER number of Cars in the category does not magically get worse because BEVs are a small fraction. There is already enough BEVs to have clear data on the probability of fire per number of cars. Ignoring that mathematic concept makes you the one spamming spurious rubbish.

[@S3ni0rCit1z3n]

The car that caught fire was a diesel hybrid and not diesel as Quentin pointed out therefore still has a lithium battery, the car (reportedly) suffered an electrical fault, I'm guessing the battery or circuit but, it's highly doubtful the diesel spontaneously combusted as that's not how diesel works. To ignite diesel requires it to be placed under pressure.

[@Hitstirrer]

Totally wrong. It was a pure diesel car. DVLA has confirmed that as well as the fire officer and numerous people who saw the number plate. The only accurate word in your post was ''guessing'. Quite why you want to believe that it was a battery fire I don't know but you really need to stop spreading false information.

[@Twmpa]

@@Hitstirrer Diesel on its own is actually very dificult to ignite - even using a blowtorch it is not as easy as you would think. Also a diesel fire would not burn with the ferocity evident on that Range Rover and it would produce copious amounts of thick black smoke which was not evident in the film clips. Strangely the seat of the fire on that Range Rover was right where the hybrid battery would be mounted if it had one. It seems like a remarkable coincidence that a fire would start in exactly the same place on a non hybrid model. Finally, even if the fire did start in a purely diesel car, we would still see the same sort of catastrophic firestorm if it spread to nearby cars with lithium batteries.

[@bentullett6068]

​@Hitstirrer get a match and try and light diesel. It doesn't ignite that easily.

[@Hitstirrer]

@@Twmpa You are free to believe what you want. But you can't have your own facts. DVLA says diesel. Most likely an electrical fire under the bonnet. That then ignited four or six other fossil fuel cars around it. That released a few hundred litres of liquid fuel burn and ignited others. What evidence do you have that there were ANY electric cars on that floor? Yet you are desperate to believe that. 1500 cars with 25000 litres of liquid fuel can cause a bit of a conflagration. Without a single EV being involved.

[@Hitstirrer]

@@bentullett6068 Correct. But an electrical fire under the bonnet can do that. Numerous examples of that exist. The carpark fire in Liverpool that caused 1000 cars to be lost was also a diesel Range Rover. I see a pattern here. But because you try to light a diesel fire in your garage in a saucer full of diesel using a match you say it's not possible. Facts say otherwise.

[@snappingclam8801]

Conventional vehicle fires are easily addressed, whereas EV battery fires are virtually impossible to extinguish. Such is the cost of "progress".

[@paulgovan3507]

And horse-drawn carriages never burst into flames, right? Boo to progress there too from you? And horses and carriages needed no rivers of blood to flow in (sssh!) endless conflicts and wars fought for the oil/gasoline needed to fuel combustion-junkies' truth-blind addiction to the Infernal Combustion Engine. Your very selective amnesia and equally selective hostility to progress is one of the biggest cliches in the history of human progress and evolution. Paul G

[@paulwalker993RSR]

so its progress to have children mining lithium for electric car batteries then?@@paulgovan3507

[@kevtheargonut]

@@paulgovan3507 hmm, selective amnesia. The move from horse drawn carriages to cars dramatically improved the flexibility, speed, range and freedom for people to move around over distance. The move from ICE to battery does not show the same improvement at all. You do realise (if your "selective amnesia" allows) why we had coaching inns back in the day? They were the EV charging points of the time. Easily and instantly refuellable cars removed that need to waste time waiting for another 30 miles of horse power, and by the way, electric powered cars failed to deliver at that time too. Enjoy your overly priced coffee at your desolate, sad, queue laden and broken refuge while your electric horseless carriage is eventually refuelled in a 1700's style timeframe. I'll give you a wave as I drive by hundreds of miles to the next filling station. And of you think rivers of blood happened over oil, wait till you see what happens in the future over the rare minerals to make batteries. Still, I guess that is what you would call progress.

[@AlexandraK1]

Plus they can burn your house down or go up in smoke while you're driving ...

[@snappingclam8801]

ICE cars quickly replaced horses for very good reasons. Horses are slow by comparison, can be skittish, require much maintenance and are prone to illness. Horses filled city streets with dung and urine that was costly to remove, streets turning into reeking open sewers in the rain. Cities had to employ dedicated crews with specialised equipment to remove horses that died on the streets. People welcomed ICE powered cars with open arms. That was real progress.@@paulgovan3507

[@andrewmarsh3587]

You do realise Wilson is paid by Ev manufacturers for his KZbin channel to put EVs in good light

[@consul6262]

Would never trust a word he said, always struck as a smarmy used car salesman.

[@Dormices]

I didn't know but I certainly did guess!

[@ascend2luv]

He looked haunted in his eyes he was lying it’s clear ! He kept stuttering n licking his lips n eyes blinking all evidence of disception!

[@PadreAlan67]

Hang on, for a smart bloke he doesn't get statistics... saying that less than 1% of all car fires are EV's doesn't take account of the ratio of EV vs fossil fuel vehicles on the road. The figures suggest that EV's are twice as likely PER VEHICLE than a fossil fuel vehicle is to go on fire. And when they DO go on fire, they are massively worse to put out and massively more destructive.

[@matthewgodwin3050]

He also conveniently forgets to mention the cause of petrol and diesel engined vehicles catching fire. How many were arson? How many were dpf system failures? How many were hybrids? And, this is the crucial one, how many were caused by lithium iron 12 volt batteries going into thermal runaway? My local garage won't even fit a lithium iron battery to a car, as they are nowhere near as safe as a lead acid battery. Mr Wilson is being extremely selective in his choice of facts.

[@pauljames970]

My son is a firefighter he went to a BMW EV which hit a tree and burst into flames, it took 3 days to put out the fire eventually burning itself out. He says that they are impossible to extinguish with anything !!

[@brianferguson7840]

I am a fire officer and that is simply not true !!! There is not enough hydrocarbon material in any car to burn for three days. Also they are easily extinguished by oxygen excluding mediums such as AFFF.

[@AlexandraK1]

Yup, they continue to burn even under water, unfortunately ...

[@michael.randall5034]

Spot on Retired firefighter, know why and how cars catch fire. BEV fires are a chemical reaction that can occur at any time. Lithium Iron batteries are dangerous and not fit for purpose.

[@GordonM54]

Fleet sales are only good because of the BIK benefits. EV's have very high depreciation, 2nd hand prices are shocking

[@discodave2733]

​@@Marco___Poloits a game of pass the parcel 😂

[@DavieRooker]

The biggest issue is that ANY risk, whether perceived or real is either being either ignored or amplified depending on what "side" you are on.

[@chriswilson1853]

This is so true.

[@DougRutter]

Wilson’s paid by the EV industry to spread these lies.

[@richiereyn]

Back in 2007, I had a Diesel Citroen Xsara estate catch fire, it began in the engine bay. The fire was nothing like the fire in the Luton car park, it looked like any other petrol/diesel car fire, with lots of thick, black belching smoke. The fire brigade put it out very quickly and determined the cause was electrical, the area around the battery was completely destroyed. The fire I saw in the video clip in Luton looked nothing like the same type of combustion at all. The thing I find strange is no one will release the number plate for anyone to actually check online whether it's an EV, Hybrid or what, and that only raises suspicions there is some kind of cover-up, so not to paint EV's in a bad light. Also, did I hear Steve Berry state that the more expensive brands aren't going up in flames, quoting Tesla as an example? Really? How many Tesla's have I seen in the news frying themselves on the side of the road?

[@TB-up4xi]

More conspiracy theories - give it up already - The fire in the Luton carpark looked exactly like the London Echo arena fire in 2017 - there were zero EV's damaged in that fire or the Mont Blanc tunnel fire in 1999 - fire behaves completely differently in an enclosed space with other material around - it's like comparing the 20ft high bonfire with 2 people sitting around a campfire and saying - hey they don't look the same - must be an EV that caused that bonfire.

[@michael.randall5034]

You are absolutely correct. Flames were shooting out from the side yet you could see between the rear wheels, lights still on to. Diesel cars do not burn like that. You could also see different coloured smoke and gases. How could they announce the "supposed cause" so quickly too. (I was in fire investigation in London and fire safety and attended many many fires) as likely not a lot left of the car and It would likely be under rubble and therefore take time for a full and thorough investigation As a retired firefigher with 30 years I fully concur with what you say it stinks!! Mind you they cannot hide the London Bus in Wimbledon, a large bang and then a severe rapidly growing fire which is not the first.

[@Iamtilersscreeminganger]

Its disingenuous to have a pro ev guy on and no one to counter his blatant falsehoods.

[@rlw85]

He does know that lithium ion batteries are made from 50% oil based products. So you still need to drill for oil to make the batteries

[@Twmpa]

Also, drilling an oil well is somewhat less environmentally destructive than the strip mining (often using child labour) that is carried out in the developing world to obtain the rare earth metals required for an EV battery. The materials are then transported from wherever they are mined to (mostly) China to be made into batteries which then have to be shipped around the world again to the car factories where they are installed and the completed cars again shipped around the world to reach customers. EVs are clean at the point of use but nothing more. Even most of the electricity to charge them is sourced from fossil fuels.

[@itspart]

+ The cars interears are oil bast...

[@garyfromlondon]

That is total nonsense, Lithium Ion batteries are not 50% oil based

[@rlw85]

@@garyfromlondon the oil products are used as stabilising agents for the lithium

[@garyfromlondon]

@@rlw85 No that's not correct. you are probably confusing what someone said about Electric car batteries as "White Oil" ....... but there is no actual oil used in the batteries ...... plus with the new Sodium Ion batteries that are now being produced, there will be no Lithium in the batteries in the future

[@tomrichards4956]

If a petrol car catches fire, you have time to get out. If an EV catches fire, you're dead.

[@michaelharrison9340]

We're supposed to believe that as with the experimental procedure, EVs are "safe and effective". All those flammable scooters, bikes and Teslas must be diesels as well. No chemical fires/thermal runaway here - honestly!!!

[@IncognitoChild]

You have to love Quinton, what he's conveniently failed to acknowledge is what percentage of EV cars sold have caught fire. Percentage of total cars is always going to be small when you compare it to the millions of internal combustion engine cars that are still currently on the road

[@johnsmith-px1sr]

and hopefully will remain on the road for centuries to come ..providing people come to their senses that is

[@JAJL667]

Kevin gave him a very easy ride. He had no challenging questions. Very poor TalkTV.

[@markreed1604]

Is Quentin Wilson paid to support EV's?

[@Kmathornton]

The vehicle at Luton was described as a diesel vehicle. Can someone clarify if it was a hybrid. Only needs a yes or no answer, and if they don't answer the question the public will always wonder if it's a cover up.

[@lonewarrior1543]

the diesel range rover at luton...was a hybrid....the battery exploded...shame on Quintin for sticking to the narrative

[@Hitstirrer]

No it wasn't. DVLA confirmed it was a pure diesel car. Shame on you for spreading false news.

[@SNUSNU-lz7dh]

The way the flames are flaring out the front passenger side exactly where the battery is on the hybrid version definitely looks like it to me

[@areyoustupid.....]

​@@Hitstirrerwrong

[@barneyrubble9309]

the insurance industry will kill off the EV due to repair costs and fire risks..the insurance costs will price you out of the EV. and Quintin has money in the game so he's not impartial and regardless of whether EV's are a greater fire risk than an ICE, the fact is the results of a litium battery thermal runaway is way more severe as its not only impossible to put out but the fumes can be lethal to your long term health. To ignore those facts is neglegant on all fronts.

[@clivefrear1784]

Quentin’s opening statement regarding the number of EVs catching fire compared with ICE needs qualifying; most car fires are torched by ‘joyriders’ or are caused by humans. Furthermore, there are many more older ICE cars compared to older EVs. Thus, filters need to apply comparing up to three year old cars that catch fire - other than by human causation - against EVs similarly filtered. Thus might give a more useful comparison.

[@bentullett6068]

Or mechanical faults mostly due to drum roll 🥁 electrical items in the cars. The Vauxhall Zafira fire issues were due to the electric heater elements in the heaters going faulty.

[@michaeldoolan7595]

I had a laptop burst into flames in a suitcase. It was impossible to put out and ended up slinging it on the pavement to burn out.

[@stevenwatson3963]

If EV;s are the future, we will all soon be walking everywhere ((As Planned).

[@chowchow2386]

Majority of electricity comes from burning of fossil fuels. Even nuclear isn't emission free. Knowing this, how can anyone with any deductive reasoning come to conclusion that EV's are greener than combustion engine vehicles.😂

[@kerrymoran9532]

Such true words there

[@alanhappymanBTR]

ANYBODY RECKONING the motor trade has ‘GOT QUENTIN’ in their pockets ? The HEAVY weight of the vehicles themselves & No of CHARGING POINTS INFRASTRUCTURE definitely needs improvements; not least the vehicle purchase prices !

[@robertbarnett9939]

All EVs will be in landfill once their batteries expire in 10 - 15 years.

[@mrheartbeat]

This bloke is a member of "stop burning stuff" and Fully Charged Show. He has a personal agenda - not an independent voice.

[@kellyeye7224]

Not sure this will be an ongoing issue as the 'impossible' levels of EV insurance will kill the market anyway - if it hasn't already.

[@andyb6120]

Why did you cut out Quentin receiving a brown paper envelope from the EV manufactures ??

[@SeaSawSi]

ev's only account for 2% of all cars in the uk and they have already had 330 this year! you have to remember that an electric car fire is a lot more extreme and ultimately does a lot more damage! also don't forget Quentin has vested interest in an electric car show!

[@shadygiz]

it would be more accurate if they compared the amount of electric cars on the road vs how many catch fire and the same again for a combustion car. As a percentage of those on the road, i would be keen to see what the figures are.

[@bobjames6622]

And don't forget insurance costs which are now rising into the THOUSANDS of pounds for EVs

[@consul6262]

So true, obviously insurance companies don't like the risk, which speaks volumes.

[@stephencope7178]

I only hope that, as a petrol powered car owner, I don't end up subsidising EV owners!! 🤔

[@consul6262]

@@stephencope7178 I suspect we already do, one of the reason energy prices are higher is because of the ' Green' subsidiaries we all have to pay.

[@philipbunker146]

My diesel cars insurance went up by over £200 this year despite full no claims bonus! I did watch a KZbinr whose EV Porsche Taycan went up from £600+ last year to £3500 this year!

[@gilbert7794]

The only reason fleet sales are up for EV’s is the taxation is far lower once that disappears people will want to go back to ICE and EV’s never pay back their carbon as they require huge open cast mining to recover tiny amounts of rare materials and not to mention that 80% of all batteries used in EV’s come from slave labour.

[@jimmys6566]

The carbon debt is NOT paid off in 15,000 miles. Volvo says it's about 60,000 miles. Why did you not challenge this?

[@Richard482]

Volvos study has long been debunked.

[@jimmys6566]

@Richard482 1. On the contrary, with most EVs being made in China using power from coal fired power stations, the problem is even worse than Volvo stated. 2. If you use the vehicle in a territory which say has 40% of its e grid power derived from burning fossil fuels, the carbon deficit is NEVER paid off.

[@Coolhandluke-s1f]

The statistics are skewed , there are far more petrol and diesel cars than they're are evs so how do the 300 ev fires compare to the amount of evs on the rd ?

[@mikeholling8830]

I said the other day that I was willing to put a few dollars on that the car that started the Luton car park fire was an ev or a hybrid…as yet no takers.🤔

[@andyh5743]

I suppose if you are a automotive journalist you can't go upsetting too many people , time will tell if they are sell outs or talking facts.

[@Impact-Vermin-Control]

It doesn't matter what car started it as the evs in the car park will go in to thermal run away when they get hot and the whole car park then is doomed. Ev's in a car park is a bad idea.

[@alisonbrown1841]

Tell them to come back when all other ideas materialise. Imagine getting electronically locked inside when fire breaks out. Burnt alive

[@golders99]

EVs are bloody dangerous, they should be halted until they can workout how to control the EV fire in Thermal Runaway.

[@brianwaites4572]

Both of them lied, no surprise there then. That car was a diesel hybrid! And the fire was from the battery….Look at the video, where was the black choking diesel smoke??

[@Displays.1234.]

The fact is it's only 23% of green energy goes into the grid on a good day the more like 3% on a bad day... And don't forget that wind turbines are far from green, They relay heavily on engines to start them, and oils and lubricants. They have a limited lifespan and can't be reprocessed very easily. And if it's too windy they have to be shut down.... And they have to be very heavily subsidised............

[@colingianella7172]

Wilson has a history of adjusting figures to suit the debate. It’s not only “clocking” speedometers that he’s responsible for.

[@alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

Ah - yes. I remember that now. It was mentioned in "Private Eye" ages ago.

[@stevenkillington5041]

He knows full well it was a hybrid hence the massive coverup no info after two weeks stands out like a sore thu,b

[@Hitstirrer]

DVLA says it was a pure diesel car. Why are you so keen to blame it on a battery?

[@Enlightened-WOLF]

funny how he is not stating all the facts like how many evs and how many non ev cars and vans are on the road like 100.000 evs on the road and 38.700.000 normal cars thats 387x more normal cars plus normal cars can be put out within minutes evs take hours or days

[@AlexandraK1]

Can't really be put out ....

[@steve3150]

I've been driving for 50 years and not one IC car has ever caught fire. Quentin is talking rubbish.

[@juliegross2689]

Also the car computer system auto locks the doors, here in the USA the fire trucks do not carry what it takes to put out electric vehicles and a woman burned to death they could not get her out very sad would not ever consider buying one

[@sterobloc6645]

Release the number plate of the Luton “Diesel” so we can all stop worrying about EV’s

[@BrassToff]

So what's the % of private owners buying new EVs. That's the figure that's tanking, I suspect. And nobody wants a 2nd hand EV.

[@earthstick]

Quentin, .3% of car fires involved an electric car because there are so few of them presently. But the problem is, when they burn, the temperature is thousands of degrees, far hihgher than petrol or disel fuel. They will destroy everything around them, including the road. And you cannot put out a lithium fire with water. Even in GCSE chemistry we ignighted lithium by putting it into water. It starts an exothermic reaction that displaces the hydrogen in H2O. The heat from the reaction is enough to ignight the hydrogen.

[@2packs4sure]

Lol,, Millions upon millions and millions and millions of functional gas and diesel vehicles on the road that have the potential to go up in flames never do and the very very small percentage of EVs out there often do... I don't think they're running the numbers properly..

[@bertybasilbennett3040]

The insurance premiums are shocking too

[@JAJL667]

And going to get worse!

[@philmipants6337]

It was a Hybrid Range Rover with the lithium battery under the passenger seat and that’s where the fire started, so it wasn’t an EV, it was however a halfway house hybrid which has basically done the same thing as an EV battery fire, outcome an uncontrollable fire due to thermal runaway. Stop the continuous bs.

[@Hitstirrer]

Wrong. DVLA confirmed it was a diesel car. Why do you want to believe otherwise?

[@philmipants6337]

@@Hitstirrer No, that’s what the DVLA have been instructed to say, the DVLA is the civil service and they are told what to say, it was a Hybrid. If you want to believe otherwise I’m not arguing.

[@Hitstirrer]

@@philmipants6337 OK But your tinfoil hat needs adjusting a bit. The local Fire officials must be in on this conspiracy too. But why are they covering something up? And what are they covering up? Do they want to avoid blaming a battery? The owner of the car would tell the press it was a hybrid and blow their cover out of the water. Total lack of credibility of police/fire service/DVLA for ever. Get your brain in gear. It was a diesel car that caught fire. It happens. The records of that number plate and the cars VIN go back to 2014. Six MOTs for some shadow organisation to rewrite. Really? Get a grip.

[@over-engineered]

I hate going to the filling station, so always fill right up to minimise visits. The idea of having to plug an electric car in at home every night is a non starter for me. Too much hassle.

[@cheekychappyo8]

Range Rover at Luton car park was a Hybrid.......Quentin what a pleb

[@Hitstirrer]

Wrong. DVLA confirmed it was a diesel car. Stop spreading misinformation.

[@PhilMacVee]

Looking at the London Fire Brigade data, that would suggest an incident rate of 0.04% for petrol and diesel car fires, while the rate for plug-in vehicle is more than double at 0.1%. [Fleet News 27/11/2020]

[@munners0852]

I've seen cars and vans catch fire whilst on the move, how many of the ice and electric vehicles are catching fire whilst stationary? I'd of thought the percentage of electric cars share will be much higher!

[@richarddutchholland4780]

Never heard so much BS from two motoring journalists, you swear they’re on the pay roll of the EV manufacturers. Theres been an increase of insurance companies that have decided not to insure any EV’s and a lot of the more high end ones have now seen insurance premiums increase 6 fold. One guy on here I follow has the Porsche Tycan and that’s gone from £600+ a year to £3000+

[@vampire__uk]

20% of the market. That's topped out and will only go down once people get over the fad.

[@keithdenton8386]

I hope so. If EVs get to be 70 or 80% then they will have to find a way of getting as much revenue that they get out of ICE cars. I love the fact that it costs me £300 to travel 10,00 miles and only pay 15 pounds of that in tax. I hope the fad ends soon.

[@ColonelMuppet]

Don’t get these pair of green captured saps on again Kevin. Battery prices are not falling which is critical for the mass market…the depreciation is insane on EVs!

[@bottleneck4593]

The unqualifiablle open ended third party risk will soon stop all EV’s of any type getting insurance.

[@chrisjepson5050]

Who mines for lithium for the batteries?

[@adamautofix5112]

Aren’t the fire figures Wilson mentions going to show lower fire numbers for EV’s when compared to ICE purely given the fact there is a lot smaller numbers of EV’s out on the roads than ICE vehicles 🤔

[@nottmfunguy]

I can only assume Quentin Wilson has some form of financial stake in EV's in whatever way to be such a die hard supporter of EV's. Now EV sales are plummeting and dealers struggling to sell them on. Insurers like Aviva no longer accepting certain EV makes, models to insure and renewals in some cases rising by 3 times. It's not a good place to be with an EV. I was one of the higher percentage that bought a new car this year, a diesel 4x4, with an amazing efficient, clean engine. The equivalent EV version would have cost me £11k more.

[@thamesmud]

Old Quentin's on his ev's have less fires kick again. This ignores the fact that a lot of the ICE fleet is old and the EV's are all quite new. I would like to see these fire stats corrected for age of vehicle. The mayhem that an aging ev fleet may wreak on us could be gruesome.

[@juliegwilliam8503]

Why is he looking so worried and lying??? They explode as well! On a brighter note you wont need to buy a coffin or pay for your cremation they come free with the EV 😂😂😂 # we know he's talking BS !!!! # too late, we are awake now😂😂😂😂🎉

[@gilbert7794]

There have been loads of teslas and high end EV’s have gone up in smoke.

[@Dormices]

The true danger of EV's is neatly demonstrated by the huge cost of insuring it, if you can find a company that will touch it at all that is...

[@neiljones3154]

What crap that statistic was.

[@paulwilliams5013]

Did anything happen to car parks in terms of improvements after the December 2017 Liverpool Kings Dock car park fire? (similar type of fire, 1200 cars, car park demolished, Land Rover.) Evidently not enough!

[@Enlightened-WOLF]

20% of the market for new cars but people are keeping there old car longer thats more greener he is full of crap

[@simonshaffer]

His stats don’t make sense, shame.

[@Revup1]

There are a number of problems with Quentin's statistics. Its not 0.03% of fires that are EV's its actually 0.3%. Of the 33.3million cars on UK roads 900,000 are EV's. That's around 2.7% of cars on the road that are EV's (4.6% if you include hybrids). So if there are 100,000 car fires, that's one in every 333 cars on the road. If 300 are EV fires, that's one in every 3000 EV's that catch fire. That means you are 9 times (not 20 times Quentin) LESS LIKELY to have a fire in an EV than in an ICE or Hybrid. However, LESS LIKELY to have a fire does NOT equal SAFER (really Quentin, you should know better!) Why? Because if you have an EV fire YOU CAN'T PUT IT OUT. A fire you can't put out is exponetially more dangerous than a fire you can put out, even if you are 9 times more likely to have such a fire! Sadly statistics don't matter a dam in this argument because if your ICE car catches fire in the driveway it is very unlikely to cause a confligration that will burn down your house at the same time! As to the Luton fire, the real question is NOT how did the fire start, but whether the number of EV's present in the car park contributed to the confligration that the firebrigade were UNABLE TO EXTINGUISH.....that's the question that needs asked and answered......hello?

[@steadfastandyx4947]

An EV saves five polar bears ; for argument sake. A burning EV kills how many polar bears ; for argument sake? Leave it out Mr Wilson and try to understand the reality of energy (carbon neutral, wind, solar etc) production, delivery and worst storage.

[@411shammy]

Who wants to sit in a mobile oven!, electrics fail and your locked in

[@alisonbrown1841]

Vested interest in that statement Kevin. Can't trust what anyone says,

[@Danny-qq5nr]

Quentin Crisp is a liar

[@newbymick1]

Quinten Wilson - Puppet of the EV evangelists

[@gilbert7794]

Utter rubbish if the number of EV’s where the same as ice cars then electric car fires would be higher the Luton car fire was a diesel hybrid where the battery sits under the passengers seat

[@Hitstirrer]

Wrong. DVLA confirms it was a diesel car. Stop spreading misinformation.

[@ragingrover]

Solid state batteries? LOL Thorium reactors were only 10 years away 50 years ago. Full of shite

[@michaelhanrahan5349]

There's something going on with Quentin Wilson's face. Very strange Look.

[@alanpearce1753]

How many of the E.V owners have a second car that is petrol or diesel, for long journeys

[@cnursery]

How can you start an argument for the safety of EVs in terms of fire, if the first statistics you spout are clearly erroneous? If there are 100,000 car fires in the UK each year, there may well be only 300 caused by EVs catching fire, but then there are a lot less EVs and hybrids than ICE cars! And, of course, the percentage of EVs on the road at the moment is not the same as the percentage of new registrations. I spoke to a local bodywork shop owner recently. He said he doesn't touch EVs, but did say he'd just bought an EV van for his business. He said it was cheap., a two year old VW. The same spec vehicle (year, model, mileage, condition, colour) but diesel, was twice the price. Says it all, really.

[@Dan_druft]

At most electric cars only make up 3% of cars on the road so 300 fires is a lot compared to the other 1.6 million sold last year.

[@kerrymoran9532]

Fleet sales are high only because of the tax incentive offered to business

[@itspart]

This wilson fool is payed by the EV industry.what he is not saying is there are 10.'s of millions more petrol Diesel cars at the min than EV'S If you did the math. The EV'S are far more likely to catch fire than petrol Diesel.... And I own a Hybrid 😢

[@Timmt09]

Why did he not speak the truth and say it was a diesel hybrid

[@plbingham]

'if we look t the science'.... like we did with the injectible? ... Quinten, you noddy.

[@juliacarr5039]

The eco maniacs want to stop the planet frazzling us, they find it much more sporting to watch you burn in eco cars🤪

[@erikatoutenhoofd1174]

There are a lot more petrol cars then electric cars so that statistic is a logical fallacy.

[@jseaschippychorley]

NOPE the Luton fire was a Hybrid, Top gear joker

[@Zenyettamondatta]

Asking the wrong person, he has a huge interest in pushing electric cars so take what he states with a pinch of salt. Better asking when the UK puts out just under 1% of World wide pollution why are we being forced into this mode of transport and the way these so called experts address it, with fear mongering, end of the World stuff you would think we were liable for 10%, dont be fooled, cost is huge, second hand electric has dropped like a stone, no infrastructure, limited travel distant, and with all the increase in electric car insurance have risen astronomically this year going forward, these are just 1 or 2 reason to stick to petrol/diesel.

[@daleskidmore1685]

EV echo chamber. Q W is part of an evangelical channel that dismisses out of hand any criticism of EVs. Removing ICE cars from production removes the incentive for companies to innovate. Government should keep their noses out of industry. Here today gone tomorrow politicians deciding on far reaching policies that lack the proof of time is not a good mix

[@etiennebaree6176]

we have not to listen to him also.. my daughter did with her ev mini 15.000 km and front tyres where gone

[@brettreaby]

Quentin Wilson is an EV evangelist: zero credibility. Drank way to much Kool Aid

[@equaliser2265]

Bolloxs, what a load of bolloxs

[@icedidi]

..........and not to listen to people sponsored by the EV industry. That Luton fir looks as if it was a Hybrid car....

[@monk3synuts]

Quinten W***ker

[@TrogART]

Well we all know Quentin's bias, he has been extolling the virtues of EV's for ever, not that I don't trust many people today, but I don't especially when it's someone who would never go back on his evangelical crusade regarding EV's, he has been committed to this crusade forever.

[@spice3767]

Unbelievable folk are still saying go green and ev in the same sentence …🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️….