Was the Luton airport fire caused by an electric vehicle? The official line is that it was a diesel-powered vehicle. However, a video of the fire in its early stages has been noted by many on social media to appear to show a Range Rover Evoque ablaze on the passenger side at the front.
The Range Rover Evoque has mild hybrid EV (MHEV) models which have been recalled in at least one country because of a fault that caused the lithium ion battery located under the passenger seat to short and catch fire.
The Telegraph‘s Allison Pearson notes there “was none of the thick black smoke you would expect with a diesel fire”.
It seems odd that no further details – such as confirmation of the make and model of the car – have yet been put into the public domain. Is that because they would confirm it was a hybrid and detract from the official ‘diesel vehicle’ line?
The blaze, which involved up to 1,500 vehicles that are unlikely to be salvageable, caused the car park to partially collapse.
Worries about electric vehicle fires have been increasing. Recently a family home was lit on fire after their electric car reportedly exploded while sitting in their driveway. In July an electric car was blamed for a fire on a cargo ship carrying nearly 3,000 vehicles in the North Sea which killed one person and forced others to jump overboard. London Fire Brigade says it responds to an electric vehicle fire every two days. Insurance for electric vehicles has become increasingly expensive and hard to obtain. The Government has been advised that car park spaces should become wider to mitigate the fire risk from electric vehicles.
The fire service has said a full investigation is under way into the airport fire but it is not known how long it will take to complete. The results of this investigation should clarify the role of any lithium battery in starting the blaze and are eagerly awaited.
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The time, the place, the arrest and the subsequent media silence, may provide equally relevant clues.
What has happened to the News Roundup?
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/an-audience-with-artificial-sunak/
A blunt takedown of the useless stooge Fishy off the back of AI.
Let’s hold an enquiry.
But the answer can’t be ‘yes’.
Too much at stake for politicians, greenists, the BBC, politicised police and fire services, manufacturers.
Nothing to see here, move on please.
If it was a diesel mild hybrid it could have accurately reported as a diesel powered one. A degree of speculation (rather than scepticism) here, of course. What is true is that the usual media channels are selective with the truth, and they often move on to “next business” before the whole story emerges.
Absolutely, Ukraine seems to have gone very quiet. Nothing to do with the fact that the counter offensive against the Russians has failed spectacularly to the extent that the Russians are gaining ground? Of course not!
Which is why in a Court of Law witnesses must swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, because just the ‘truth’ can conceal or in fact tell a lie.
For the BBC and its stable mates, the whole truth is misinformation and nothing but the truth is disinformation – and in some cases a hate crime.
”The results of this investigation should clarify the role of any lithium battery in starting the blaze and are eagerly awaited.”
There’s optimism for you! I rather suspect that the answer is already well known and any delay is whilst TPTB draft up a report that is sufficiently confusing, ambiguous and mired in obfuscation that nobody will be sure what it means.
With Covid vaccines, wind farms, EVs, heat pumps etc. TPTB have come up with a vision (nightmare) for the future and then petulantly demanded that technology appears that will deliver their vision. With the net zero stuff they have gone one step further and enshrined their vision in law with the Climate Change Act, If the current technology cannot deliver this vision then either they will have to eat a huge slice of humble pie and change or rescind the Climate change Act or they will force us all into an immiserated future.
“…rescind the Climate change Act or they will force us all into an immiserated future.”
Well I’m not betting on changes to the legislation.
A few videos knocking around on youtube about this now. The brightness and lack of smoke suggest a battery. Also the position of the battery suggest a hybrid ie under left seat. Loads of smoke with a diesel engine fire- i know this from ealiert this year when i was stuck in a traffic jam- a diesel engine fire where the driver slammed on the break as they couldn’t see, and somebody rear-ended them. Shame there are no videos of disel engine fires. But loads on EV fire!
Yep, the YT vids are very informative, noting the historical fire issue in Range Rovers which the manufacturers never resolved and the highly questionable, possibly AI-generated frontal images which don’t match the rear image. Geoff Buys Cars does a couple of good’uns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-zKTqe19ss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZEku6lHfDM
Yes, there are no videos of diesel engine fires because they are so rare.
Diesels don’t generally explode!
I’ve variously heard it was a diesel hybrid, that it was a DPF that had gone into regeneration mode, that the driver was rushing for their flight and asked the staff if they wouldn’t mind putting the fire out for them.
https://www.youtube.com/@GeoffBuysCars
C40 cities.
Perhaps the lovely Baroness Hallett could chair the inquiry !
Perhaps it was her vehicle.
Elsewhere there are claims to have deciphered the number plate. If correct, the DVLA shows it as belonging to a 2014 Land Rover – model unspecified. A Discovery Sport or Evoque would match the images.
A 2014 car would be too old to be a hybrid.
The scientific fact is that diesel just does not burn like that! Used as an accelerant it will burn but needs time to soak in ,then when it does catch light, it’s slow burning with billowing smoke that’s as black as your hat!
How best to magnify the problem than lie?
The GeoffBuysCars vs The MacMaster John O Groats to Lands End Diesel vs EV race (see youtube) lays bare the challenges faced by EV owners. A £120k Porsche Taycan takes on a £2650 2008 BMW 320D.
Well worth a watch. Two channels two perspectives.
I’ve watched it with interest,excellent real world evidence of where the wants, needs,beliefs, wishes and dreams of the morally superior are leading us all, Disaster!
It might be worth noting that electrical faults that end up with rapid battery discharge in modern cars is not that unusual. Some years ago, I had one in a Honda Civic diesel, which resulted in the 12V battery, which was a hefty one (around 70Ah), flattening overnight at my place. It turned out to be caused by a software fault in a Bosch system, which failed to switch off properly. It was fixed under warranty by the manufacturer via the dealer. I happen to know someone who used to work at the Honda factory (now closed down), and she said that they had thousands of cases with that fault. Ironically, Bosch invented the Controller Area Network (CANBUS) which was part of the problem, in effect. They were a subcontractor to Honda, so the firmware correction was issued by them.
These days, almost all cars use the CANBUS arrangement to minimise the use of copper cable for odds & sods, and the 12V is always live for at least a burglar alarm. In hybrid EVs the high voltage (traction) battery is usually isolated when the main power is switched off, with the contact relays being located close to the battery pack, so no high voltage on when the car is parked.
For those who want to delve into more detail, this might be of interest: https://www.jamasoftware.com/requirements-management-guide/automotive-engineering/guide-to-automotive-safety-integrity-levels-asil Almost anything can develop faults – there is often a cross balance between severity and the cost of avoidance, e.g.
I just briefly caught news of proposed tower-block developments where the basements are used to store and charge fleets of electric buses. Sounds a bit iffy.
The is incident deals with two big assertions at the same time. Firstly, the assertion that EVs are good and safe for the planet, and secondly that the fires inside the WTC could not have made the towers collapse.
I don’t understand why the car cannot be identified. Surely, the owners who lost their cars can be used to easily identify the car involved.
And even if it wasn’t a hybrid or full EV, all it needed was one nearby and Bob’s yer uncle…
For context, all of the Net-Zero / Climate Emergency assertions are based on the premise that there is now runaway global warming. Please see the attached images that show two different types of data. I hope they are self evident that all the planet saving assertions are very wrong.
The image was badly cropped so attaching again as it’s not possible to edit. Also, last sentence would be better this way. I hope the images are self evident that all the planet saving assertions are built on very wrong assumptions.
“…a full investigation is under way into the airport fire but it is not known how long it will take to complete…”
Apparently the report is scheduled to be published in 2051.
Their very denial indicates that it was a Hybrid fire. The annoying part is that “they ” think we’re all stupid. The evidence seems pretty plain to me.