If you have a problem caused by localised RF, you can usually make it work by just holding the fob next to the antenna on the RH rear window. It will need a hell of a strong signal to overcome that.

Richard, that is a good point, I would admit to not having tried that in the past. It's a bit frustrating because outside of my house the fob works from about 15 feet away or perhaps a bit more, but a lot of places that I go I need to be right next to the car to ensure that everything is OK.

Pierre3.

Philip wrote:

Luton fire was started by an early diesel L494 RR Sport, wasn’t a hybrid.

Statistics show that EV's are much less likely to go on fire than ICE vehicles. Not really a surprise given one contains heat and flammable liquids... The medias anti-EV crusade ofcourse likes to highlight every fire caused by an EV, giving people the false impression that they're exploding all over the shop.

Interestingly diesel is amongst the worst. Because its difficult to set alight, it tends to move around. A petrol fire will go kaboom and burn off quickly, a diesel fire will instead create a nice river of burning diesel on the ground which flows across the car park, setting fire to other cars as it goes. It also enables the fire to travel between floors as the burning liquid fuel can enter drainage pipes and whatnot.

The figures of the number of types of car that catch fire are likely to be skewed by the fact that the EVs are that much newer whereas there are plenty of much older, less well maintained, ICE cars out there. If the percentage of car fires affecting only cars of less than a certain age, the statistics would likely change quite a bit. Ignoring that though, it is the difference in the fire that makes a bigger difference. My local fire service have a policy of automatically sending 2 appliances to an EV fire compared with just one for an ICE car fire. Additionally, an ICE car fire requires only a few hundred gallons of water to contain, or even put out, the fire compared with thousands for an EV fire and, on a more serious fire they will simply order a large skip, fill it with water and drop the EV into it. Even on a less serious one, with the danger of it re-igniting, if it is to be recovered they will follow with a fully crewed appliance until it has been safely unloaded and quarantined. The insurance company will pick up the bill for this too.

I agree diesel is worse than petrol as petrol doesn't burn, it is only the vapour that burns, whereas diesel is excellent for starting bonfires (once ignited with a blowlamp) as it is the liquid that burns, so I agree it will spread. However, as it still needs Oxygen to burn , it can be put out fairly easily with a fire blanket or an extinguisher that stops the air getting to it.

I'm not anti-EV as such just that one wouldn't be a practical proposition for me. Running on LPG I know the concept of range anxiety, the difference being that if the filling station I had intended filling up at has run out, I can always run on petrol instead, something an EV owner can't do. There is definitely a place for them (my sister being the perfect EV owner and her Nissan Leaf is ideal for her to drive to work and go shopping) though.