[Goose]

One of the dirty little secrets (among many) about electric cars is that the batteries are super flamable.  There really isn't much that Tesla or any other electric car company can do about that right now.

Actually Tesla owes it's existence to the fact they created a battery geometry that was less likely to catch fire if one cell got hotter than it's neighbors. It obviously isn't perfect but it is much better than previous designs. Of course, Musk didn't do that technical task. It is certainly true, and always will be true, that batteries are super flammable/explosive/toxic. However fossil fuels are as well. Good engineering is necessary to use either power sources with reasonable safety. Some approaches are easier than others.

The two Soyu class Japanese submarines are super-paranoid about fire in the battery well. Historically all conventional submarines have been paranoid about their battery emitting toxic or flammable gases, but lithium-ion batteries are a different problem altogether. It has been rumored that the fire suppression systems on these boats are really only for show. Filling the battery well with inert gasses won't stop the fire. Maybe you can emergency blow and abandon ship before you explode, but that is about it. It is interesting that when Edison invented the alkaline battery he believed he had overcome the battery fire/explosion/toxic gas problem. He sold some to the US Navy to replace the conventional lead-acid batteries. A few months later the E-2 where they were installed suffered a battery explosion. Some things don't change. Reading https://ethw.org/Edison%27s_Alkaline_Battery shows history does at least rhyme.

[Goose]

One of the dirty little secrets (among many) about electric cars is that the batteries are super flamable.  There really isn't much that Tesla or any other electric car company can do about that right now.

Actually Tesla owes it's existence to the fact they created a battery geometry that was less likely to catch fire if one cell got hotter than it's neighbors. It obviously isn't perfect but it is much better than previous designs. Of course, Musk didn't do that technical task. It is certainly true, and always will be true, that batteries are super flammable/explosive/toxic. However fossil fuels are as well. Good engineering is necessary to use either power sources with reasonable safety. Some approaches are easier than others.

The two Soyu class Japanese submarines are super-paranoid about fire in the battery well. Historically all conventional submarines have been paranoid about their battery emitting toxic or flammable gases, but lithium-ion batteries are a different problem altogether. It has been rumored that the fire suppression systems on these boats are really only for show. Filling the battery well with inert gasses won't stop the fire. Maybe you can emergency blow and abandon ship before you explode, but that is about it. It is interesting that when Edison invented the alkaline battery he believed he had overcome the battery fire/explosion/toxic gas problem. He sold some to the US Navy to replace the conventional lead-acid batteries. A few months later the E-2 where they were installed suffered a battery explosion. Some things don't change. Reading https://ethw.org/Edison%27s_Alkaline_Battery shows history does at least rhyme.