The EV cloak

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Wed 12 Jul 2023 18:15
The EV cloak - sammy1

When I first saw this I thought it must be a joke, April 1 perhaps. Then Scottish Widows sprung to mind or Sir Walter Raleigh and then as a last resort it must be the Klingons Starship hiding device. But no it is a thermal blanket for your EV to help keep its range steady. Someone actually invented this!

Desperate electric car owners turn to thermal cloak to help boost battery range (msn.com)

Question is who is going to use it. Fancy dressing and undressing your car in all weathers just to travel a few extra miles and where do you keep it or do you take it with you. If you get stranded in a blizzard do you cloak the car or yourself to keep warm or may be both at the same time. Difficult decision to make. It must be a joke surely?

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Wed 12 Jul 2023 19:03
The EV cloak - Bolt

When I first saw this I thought it must be a joke, April 1 perhaps. Then Scottish Widows sprung to mind or Sir Walter Raleigh and then as a last resort it must be the Klingons Starship hiding device. But no it is a thermal blanket for your EV to help keep its range steady. Someone actually invented this!

Desperate electric car owners turn to thermal cloak to help boost battery range (msn.com)

Question is who is going to use it. Fancy dressing and undressing your car in all weathers just to travel a few extra miles and where do you keep it or do you take it with you. If you get stranded in a blizzard do you cloak the car or yourself to keep warm or may be both at the same time. Difficult decision to make. It must be a joke surely?

Actually looks similar to the blanket used to contain EV battery fire, then they dump car with blanket on in a tank of water, actually works faster on a petrol car to extinguish the fire though there are more EV fires than petrol, so they say?

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Wed 12 Jul 2023 19:06
The EV cloak - mcb100
It was the Daily Mail last week. Looking like it’s the Express taking up the baton this week.
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Thu 13 Jul 2023 09:17
The EV cloak - Sofa Spud

Perhaps it's a bit like how some drivers used to not turn on their headlights until it's nearly dark to save a tiny bit of petrol.

I remember some older drivers used to check what the 'lighting up time" was for the day, so they knew when to turn on their headlights!

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 09:25
The EV cloak - Andrew-T

Perhaps it's a bit like how some drivers used to not turn on their headlights until it's nearly dark to save a tiny bit of petrol. I remember some older drivers used to check what the 'lighting up time" was for the day, so they knew when to turn on their headlights!

If you are driving in a 30 limit, you switch on your lights when the street lamps light up !

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 09:41
The EV cloak - Adampr

Perhaps it's a bit like how some drivers used to not turn on their headlights until it's nearly dark to save a tiny bit of petrol. I remember some older drivers used to check what the 'lighting up time" was for the day, so they knew when to turn on their headlights!

If you are driving in a 30 limit, you switch on your lights when the street lamps light up !

I was told (perhaps incorrectly - I have never researched or acted upon it) that there is no legal requirement for headlights in a 30 limit because the street lights are considered sufficient.

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 13:44
The EV cloak - edlithgow

Perhaps it's a bit like how some drivers used to not turn on their headlights until it's nearly dark to save a tiny bit of petrol. I remember some older drivers used to check what the 'lighting up time" was for the day, so they knew when to turn on their headlights!

If you are driving in a 30 limit, you switch on your lights when the street lamps light up !

I was told (perhaps incorrectly - I have never researched or acted upon it) that there is no legal requirement for headlights in a 30 limit because the street lights are considered sufficient.

I've never been told that, but since I considered it to be true, I did act upon it, until I was stopped by a copette and told to put my lights on "properly"

Always wondered how I might have put then on "improperly", but didn't risk asking.

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 18:33
The EV cloak - Engineer Andy

Perhaps it's a bit like how some drivers used to not turn on their headlights until it's nearly dark to save a tiny bit of petrol. I remember some older drivers used to check what the 'lighting up time" was for the day, so they knew when to turn on their headlights!

If you are driving in a 30 limit, you switch on your lights when the street lamps light up !

I was told (perhaps incorrectly - I have never researched or acted upon it) that there is no legal requirement for headlights in a 30 limit because the street lights are considered sufficient.

I've never been told that, but since I considered it to be true, I did act upon it, until I was stopped by a copette and told to put my lights on "properly"

Always wondered how I might have put then on "improperly", but didn't risk asking.

Indeed - sarcasm doesn't exactly go down well with Plod, rather like Border Force / Customs staff at the airport ("Did you pack that suitcase yourself, sir?").

In some areas, especially those with LED lights giving a decent amount of illumination, I often see cars going by sans-lights on well after dark. To be fair, you can see everything quite nicely, but I'd never risk it, especially as you miss some vital object / person / animal etc and have a nasty accident.

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 09:38
The EV cloak - sammy1

Perhaps it's a bit like how some drivers used to not turn on their headlights until it's nearly dark to save a tiny bit of petrol.

I remember some older drivers used to check what the 'lighting up time" was for the day, so they knew when to turn on their headlights!

Yes The early days of real battery anxiety!

Surely in the winter or summer when the cloak comes off temperatures of the battery will quickly normalise to the road temperature. Also how do you possibly get the blanket underneath the car and seal it. Something like this was invented over a century ago and called a garage! I would have thought that if such a system works then all that is required is an insulating jacket for the battery and not the whole car. My other thought on this is that due to the volatility of these EV batteries the new cloak is a fire blanket!

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 10:11
The EV cloak - Ethan Edwards

Interesting idea but totally unnecessary for me. I own a garage that's both heated and insulated. Perhaps my cloak is made of bricks...now if Vauxhall could fit it with phasers and photon torpedoes I'd be set.

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 10:22
The EV cloak - Bolt

Interesting idea but totally unnecessary for me. I own a garage that's both heated and insulated. Perhaps my cloak is made of bricks...now if Vauxhall could fit it with phasers and photon torpedoes I'd be set.

No insulation actually prevents an EV battery fire from burning, it only holds it back so cement between the bricks is destroyed and crumbles, anything else in its path is destroyed as well

thats what makes an EV fire so bad and one reason some people are afraid of them, tesla probably make the best sealed battery pack but even that is not good enough once a fire gets going

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 10:53
The EV cloak - Ethan Edwards

Lucky then that statistically EV fires are at least ten times less frequent than petrol cars.

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 11:19
The EV cloak - Bolt

Lucky then that statistically EV fires are at least ten times less frequent than petrol cars.

I would recheck the stats as EV fires are more common than petrol or diesel, though stats vary from place to place there are still more EV fires, problem is they are not as easy to put out without writing off the vehicle

fossil fuelled fires can be put out faster, so stats are really useless as they cannot be compared

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 12:14
The EV cloak - mcb100
All I can find is that hybrid is most likely to get alight, followed by ICE with EV trailing a long way behind.
I’d be interested to see any different data.
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Thu 13 Jul 2023 12:17
The EV cloak - Andrew-T

... fossil fuelled fires can be put out faster, so stats are really useless as they cannot be compared

I reckon most vehicles which suffered any sort of real fire would be written off, whatever their form of propulsion ?

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 16:52
The EV cloak - Ethan Edwards

Yep done. Your wrong.

www.whatcar.com/news/how-safe-are-electric-cars/n2...9

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Thu 13 Jul 2023 17:26
The EV cloak - sammy1

For those interested the attached is a good report. Too early to give any answers as not enough EVs out there. They seem to conclude though that hybrids because of two power trains will be most likely to top the stats

Electric Car Fire Risks Look Exaggerated, But More Data Required For Definitive Verdict (forbes.com)

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Fri 14 Jul 2023 06:46
The EV cloak - Bolt

For those interested the attached is a good report. Too early to give any answers as not enough EVs out there. They seem to conclude though that hybrids because of two power trains will be most likely to top the stats

Electric Car Fire Risks Look Exaggerated, But More Data Required For Definitive Verdict (forbes.com)

Maybe once they go over to solid state, which according to Videos, steel spikes being pushed through them have no effect apart from rendering the cell useless, they don`t apparently burn out and are longer lasting, though gather Toyota will- or possibly are now? using them in Hybrids to test them out..

Not certain what Tesla are doing apart from making there own 46-80 battery as they are always making improvement quicker than anyone else.

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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?