Are Lithium-Ion Electric Cars Safe?
Laptops equipped with lithium-ion batteries occasionally overheat and catch fire. This has some people concerned about the use of this type of battery in new electric sports cars and kits for converting conventional cars and hybrid vehicles into all-electric cars. It’s an exciting time for electric vehicles — with regular announcements of increasing storage capacities for battery materials (see “Battery Breakthrough”) and exotic, high-priced vehicles slated to come onto the market, such as the recently announced sports car from Tesla Motors of San Carlos, CA. But electric vehicles have failed in the past. If they’re going to succeed this time around, they’ll need to win over the general consumer, and that will mean, among other things, demonstrating that the powerful battery packs are safe.
