Freemantle Highway Destroyed

[Ulu]

In case anyone here is still thinking that modern electric cars are a really good idea for preventing pollution and increasing public safety, you should check out the new videos on YouTube regarding the cargo ship Fremantle highway.

This cargo ship had hundreds of electric vehicles on board and it caught afire & could not be extinguished. Like magnesium and certain other metals, a lithium fire cannot be extinguished. It is as self-sustaining as an atomic chain reaction.

Even with on board fire suppression efforts the ship had to be abandoned and it burned for 5 days, Putting tons of toxic pollution into the atmosphere.

After two attempts, the freemantle was brought under tow, and anchored to be marked as a navigational hazard, until it can be towed 65km to Eemshaven and scrapped out In a yard for environmentally sensitive wreckage. We’re so lucky that it burned very close to such a place. It could’ve sunk on top of the prime fishing banks.

It was first reported that only 25 EVs were on board in the cargo of ~3500 new automobiles, but later this was increased to 250 and then 500.

The ship is coincidently owned by the same Japanese corporation that managed the Evergiven cargo ship, which blocked the Suez Canal for a week. I’ll bet the Board of Directors is having a fit.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

It is true. No product can save us from the ills of consumerism.

 

[Pondo]

Yikes! From what I've read the lithium ion batteries have an issue with combustion but the newer LiFePO4 batteries are safer? I don't know all the ins and outs but that was certainly a disaster.

I’ll bet the Board of Directors is having a fit.

Should be out of a job.

No product can save us from the ills of consumerism.

True that.

 

[Ulu]

My understanding is that none of these batteries, even the newest technology, is particularly clean when we have to mine the materials, refine, create, and recycle.

I am all for reducing pollution wherever it is efficient to do so and doesn’t destroy people. “Houston we have a problem…”

The Fremantle highway is being unloaded, car by car; and as they come off they are pushed, towed, driven, hoisted, or whatever, depending on the condition of the vehicle. Nice ones are given a high pressure bath in a 6-man car wash as they come off (All covered in salt water etc from the fire fighting efforts.)

Some are hoisted off directly into steel dumpsters full of water, which starts steaming, before hazmat teams cover them with huge fire blankets.

It was a huge amount of pollution associated with this fire, and it’s not over by a longshot. They have to dispose of all this toxic waste now, and none of this is getting as much publicity as it deserves.

Videos from the Dutch Coast showed picnic-ers watching the tugboats bring fremantle into port. I don’t see any videos of antipollution protesters anywhere.

I'd be interested in what you European guys are seeing in the news about this disaster.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Hydrogen power (internal combustion) seems to be a wiser choice than electric for transportation. There are two ways to make hydrogen, and one of them is entirely green. Toyota is all in on hydrogen supposedly. I hope they lead the way.

 

[Ulu]

You make hydrogen, & compress it, with electricity.
From combustion.
hmmmm.....

 

[Cycledelic68]

 

[KING STAB]

The problem’s they don’t tell you when you buy em… it cost the same to operate as a gas vehicle. Plus our power grid needs updating for electric cars… here we watch them on the news just burn they just watch it all day.

 

[Ulu]

I remember that about two years after the Prius came out I decided I wanted to buy my wife a hybrid electric car and I went down to the Toyota dealer. I realized at that point that a Prius has just as many parts in it as every gasoline car, plus it has the whole electric drive system and it’s cooling parts and hoses.

So my dream of owning a maintenance free electric car lost all its glory.

Then I asked the dealer, how much does it cost to change the battery when it goes dead?

He couldn’t tell me and he couldn’t get anyone to tell me and because of that I never bought a Prius. For the same price I bought her a basic 2012 Toyota Camry, and it has been the best car she’s ever owned.

 

[Wildcat]

They gave a tax break to buy an electric car in Hawaii a few years ago, along with a reduced annual registration fee, which is normally high in Hawaii. After a bunch were sold, they realized they were losing some bucks in gas tax as folks bought less. So they took away the annual registration reduction and also the tax break on new ones. I heard some folks cussing about that as I rode past on my 42 Hawthorne. I still haven't found a good electric assist for a bike.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Then I asked the dealer, how much does it cost to change the battery when it goes dead?

The average battery life of a Toyota Prius is 8-10 years or around 150,000 miles. Regarding battery life, the Prius is one of the most reliable cars on the road. The hybrid battery is designed to maintain its charge over the car's life and should last as long as the car itself. Replacement, if necessary, can cost $1500 for used battery, or up to $4k for new. On average, Priuses end up in the shop less often, for less severe issues, that cost less to fix.

https://repairpal.com/reliability/t...us Reliability Rating,of 24 for midsize cars.

 

[Ulu]

Well of course it takes less repair, because it’s a Toyota!

But I’m not sure where you got those battery prices. Certainly not California. Around here it can cost almost two thousand dollars just for labor. The local Volkswagen shop is quoting 200 an hour!

You can actually get a used Prius with a weak battery here pretty cheap, because the replacement batteries in California are ridiculously expensive.

 

[Ulu]

They gave a tax break to buy an electric car in Hawaii a few years ago, along with a reduced annual registration fee, which is normally high in Hawaii. After a bunch were sold, they realized they were losing some bucks in gas tax as folks bought less. So they took away the annual registration reduction and also the tax break on new ones….

I have been corresponding with some people affected by the fires, and I have been asking if there is any evidence that electric vehicles were involved or could have set off the greatest part of the conflagration.

Nobody can get close to anything, nobody can see anything, nobody knows anything, except that the government’s not saying anything that matters so far.

I’m sure Tesla & Starlink knew when every one of it’s vehicles went off-line during the fire.

 

[Kevin B]

The average battery life of a Toyota Prius is 8-10 years or around 150,000 miles. Regarding battery life, the Prius is one of the most reliable cars on the road. The hybrid battery is designed to maintain its charge over the car's life and should last as long as the car itself. Replacement, if necessary, can cost $1500 for used battery, or up to $4k for new. On average, Priuses end up in the shop less often, for less severe issues, that cost less to fix.

https://repairpal.com/reliability/t...us Reliability Rating,of 24 for midsize cars.

Is a Prius a hybrid versus total electric.

 

[Pedalfreak]

My GMC Sierra 2500 HD Duramax identifies as a Prius..........................................................

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Is a Prius a hybrid versus total electric.

Yes, both gasoline and internal combustion

 

[Cycledelic68]

China is Throwing Away Fields of Electric Cars - Letting them Rot!


Chinese EV Graveyards - Uncovering The Truth In Person At One Of These Controversial Sites


Hidden - China's Flagship EVs are Exploding in Huge Numbers


THE BIG EV LIE. Why They Won't Save the Planet & All About Dirty Electricity

 

[Kevin B]

Here is an eye opening article interviewing an EV owner

https://www.the-sun.com/motors/9045684/owned-ev-year-despise-owners-cant-trip-home-airport/
However this remains my favorite article for exposing the most serious problems.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tilakd...ioRY5_Ks_PFcYjjL_rjQ3sFvDGSO6TCPOadgcEl5H_Xjs

Though slightly dated the sad truth of the duping of the impressionable remains.

 

[Ulu]

It has always been obvious, that since only reasonably wealthy people can afford to buy brand new cars or electric cars, that anything good or bad about them will trickle down to the general population.

Including the cost, since the government is using tax money to subsidize the industry.

But what people can’t afford does not translate into what they will buy in the age of easy finance. I’m amazed to see these seven year long auto loans.

I hear people complain that they will never be able to afford a house, but they took out a loan on an $60,000 car?

I am still corresponding with people in the islands and there is no clue about whether this fire in Maui was made worse by burning electric vehicles. The word is that a number of wealthy people had purchased electric cars on the island, almost all of them Teslas.

 

[Cycledelic68]

David Harsanyi: Electric Cars Are a Scam
https://heartlanddailynews.com/2023/07/david-harsanyi-electric-cars-are-a-scam/
Biden’s Not-So-Clean Energy Transition
The International Energy Agency exposes the hidden environmental costs and infeasibility of going green.
pdf attached