Quote:
Originally Posted by mazeroni
Yes, infinitely.
If I puncture my gas tank nothing happens except oil spills out over the road and eventually evaporates and we replace the gas tank.
If I puncture a car's battery pack, at best there is no fire but the entire car would be totaled because you can't simply replace the battery pack, and at worst the entire car catches fire.
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This can happen, but it doesn't really happen at any rate to be a real concern. Like I posted above, ground clearance is fairly low. In fact, many vehicles come from the factory with really low ground clearance. There are cars like the C8 Corvette that will remember your preferences, so when you come to a particular area, it will automatically raise the car.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2...nt-lift-video/
Fires are much more common with ICEs than EVs. The incidents typically don't happen from tank punctures, but that is possible. Typically it happens when a fuel line, injector, regulator, etc leaks or breaks, and the gas hits the exhaust pipe and starts a fire. This happens with oil leaks too of course. The GT350 had a recall because several cars caught on fire from the oil filter not sealing well enough. Then there are the physical damages from a crash or catastrophic engine failure that can cause a hole in the crank case or a leak, which can start a fire.
You are correct that a serious impact to the bottom of the car will likely result in more expensive damage, but this is very rare. The battery area under an EV is also bigger than say the area under an ICE vehicle where an object could puncture the oil pan that could cause engine failure, so there is a greater chance of an impact with an EV. Yet, the under trays of EVs are very thick. Some EVs like Ford's Mach-E has individual sections that can be changed out if one got damaged.
On the newest Teslas, the batteries will be integrated into the floor like how some engines in motorbikes or race cars become integral components of the chassis, so removing the battery may not be as easy or possible. Initially they planned to design the car, so the batteries could be swapped, and while other companies like Nio are providing that service, Tesla is moving away from that model because it seems less necessary. But, previously, Teslas could have their battery packs removed and replaced, which was very common, and like a broken engine, they could be recycled and harvested for parts and materials. Most wrecked Teslas showed little to no major damage to the battery packs. Nio has performed over 500,000 battery swaps so far using these swapping stations:
Tesla battery pack:
Nio swapping station: