- Hazard: Hurricane Ian recently highlighted two Hazards. In an emergency situation such as evacuation, limited range and charging locations, combined with long battery charging times created problems, stranding many in traffic jams, hindering their ability to evacuate safely.
- Secondly, those EV’s stranded in and damaged by floodwaters were subject to battery corrosion leading to fires. Firefighters require special training, understanding of EVs, and over 1,000 gallons of water to ensure these fires are put out quickly and safely.
- Disposal: EV battery recycling facilities are especially limited in both number and processing capacity. This recycling process of toxic materials is energy intensive, dangerous, and expensive. Destined for landfills? Not so eco-friendly. Will old batteries become the next “nuclear waste”, with no place to go?
Next week Part 3 discusses the costs of electric vehicles: dollar, environmental, and human cost.
