In uk.transport.london message , Sun,
4 Dec 2016 17:22:22, Neil Williams
posted:

On 2016-12-03 10:02:36 +0000, Roland Perry said:

This truck I really did see bursting into flames - I was driving on the
opposite carriageway at the moment the black smoke turned to flames:

I wonder what effect electric vehicles will have on the numbers
killed/injured or road disruption caused by vehicle fires, given that
fires in EMUs are very rare (notwithstanding that one, the only one I
ever heard of, occurred very recently). If you don't have a tank of
highly volatile fuel there to burn, the chance of fire is much lower.

A charged propulsion battery contains a similar amount of energy to what
a full fuel tank does, and is likely to contain flammable substances.
It could easily ignite the contents of the goods/passenger compartments.

Such a battery should be better protected than traditional fuel tanks
are; but perhaps the same could be said of the tanks.

--
(c) John Stockton, Surrey, UK. Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Merlyn Web Site - FAQish topics, acronyms, & links.