@Scott th Ratbag There is a huge problem with cheap Chinese Li batteries, people see these advertised on line as a replacement for original equipment batteries at a fraction of the cost of the genuine battery, for example for a Ryobie drill, so instead of getting the genuine battery from Bunnings for say, $150.00 you get one on Temu for $50.00, they may not have the same management technology in them as the genuine one and they frequently explode when charging. The same thing with electric bike and scooter batteries, the el cheapo ones are dangerous, many high-rise apartment buildings in Sydney have banned electric bikes and scooters from the building. The same applies to electric golf carts, golfers used to leave them in the pro shop on the charger until there was fires in one golf club in Sydney and one in Brisbane. Now the clubs say that members must take the battery home to charge. The problem is again the cheap non original replacement batteries. It is probably true that EVs are less likely to catch fire that ICE vehicles, but that's not the point, you can extinguish an ICE fire, but an EV is a huge bomb that cannot be extinguished and may cause structural damage to the building and loss of life, the gasses are also extremely toxic and even skin contact can kill you. I heard a NSW fire chief on radio state that they are worried because their protective equipment is not good enough to protect their members from exposure to the toxic gasses. The Canberra fire brigade reported that they attend 5 home fires a year caused by home batteries.
