[curiousgal]

Battery failure?

You're expecting their engineers to design a battery that remains safe after a 70mph crash into a barrier?

[jedberg]

ICE makers have to design gas tanks that are safe after a 70mph collision, so yeah, it's kind of expected that the battery is safe too.

[jumelles]

Yes? Welcome to the automotive industry. Lives are at stake.

[thatswrong0]

Is there an equivalent safety standard for ICE vehicles? I don't think a gas task would do particularly well in the exact same circumstance either

[ars]

Yes, of course there is. That's why the gas tanks are in the back, and they most certainly do survive such crashes.

[Alupis]

ICE vehicles don't typically spontaneously combust after a crash...

[cfadvan]

If the combustion occurs as the result of a crash, can that really be said to be “spontaneous?”

[acct1771]

No, just during, when you're unconscious, and not safe in your new car miles away.

[outworlder]

Right. They sometimes spontaneously combust even without crashes.

[mmusson]

Five days after the crash doesn’t seem unreasonable. I wonder if some kind of inerting compound can be developed for lithium batteries for use by firefighters and the like.

[NickNameNick]

To 'inert' it properly, you'd have to extract all the energy, which is going to look pretty much the same as burning it.