Electric buses withdrawn in south London after fire

by antongribokon 1/14/2024, 5:26 PMwith 40 comments

by CraigJPerryon 1/14/2024, 6:09 PM

I saw this on the BBC the other day, it made me go look up how many bus fires there are.

242 over the past couple of years (although it seems these are mostly diesel or hybrid rather than battery), there’s reasonable detail in the summaries further down the page by cause: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigation-int...

I couldn’t find a way to estimate fires per miles driven.

It also doesn’t include all bus fires, only those reported to the DVSA. London Fire Brigade reports a bunch more in their publication.

by panick21_on 1/15/2024, 2:45 AM

We had electric buses for many, many decades. They are called trolley buses and they are awesome. Why they see so little use is crazy to me.

All these low carbon plans but instead of just investing in infrastructure, they invest in all these fancy new technologies that really aren't an advantage.

by AtlasBarfedon 1/14/2024, 6:09 PM

What was the chemistry of the battery? I'm guessing it wasn't LFP, but then again I've heard that LFP isn't quite as fire bulletproof as it was advertised.

by ilikeitdarkon 1/14/2024, 8:57 PM

We have had quite a few "unexplained" electric and hybrid bus fires here in Barcelona the last few years.

by rokkitmenschon 1/14/2024, 8:08 PM

Tail risk is simply outright difficult to get through folks' head.

by christkvon 1/14/2024, 6:09 PM

Oslo in Norway had massive problems due to the cold affecting the amount of charge the buses would hold as well as the charge speed leaving them unable to recharge them fully over night.

by verisimion 1/14/2024, 6:04 PM

Why the big fuss? Fires happen occasionally. Is there something about the fire that was avoidable? There are really no details given - a real non-story.

Perhaps this part of a PR campaign to signal how government takes this sort of thing very seriously?