Last Thursday, ABC AM interviewed Catriona Lowe, deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to discuss the fire risk of battery charging.

She was speaking after an electric scooter exploded in a fireball at a backpacker hostel in Sydney last Wednesday.

Lowe called for a government consumer awareness campaign about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries that now power everything from phones to vacuum cleaners, power tools and cars.

A few weeks earlier, on September 12, five cars were destroyed at Sydney's Mascot Airport after a battery detached from a luxury EV ignited.

This column discussed media reporting of EVs on February 6 and on November 15 2021, but did not mention the difficulty of extinguishing EV fires because of what firefighters call the thermal runway.

Global figures make clear EV fires are rare.

But they are an issue.

The specialist US motoring website hagerty.com has explained in detail why many country US race tracks refuse to let EVs or hybrids compete.

It says there are only two ways to deal with lithium-ion battery fires:

"Douse a fire with water to cool it down: a lot of water, between 3000 gallons (11,356 litres) and 30,000 gallons depending on the incident.

"Cooling takes 100 times more water than a gasoline fire." The other method is to let the fire burn out and then submerge the entire smouldering wreck in water.

EV batteries can be compromised in even small vehicle accidents and that is when they become dangerous.

This is now feeding into soaring insurance premiums in the UK, where the Guardian and the Express newspapers have reported EV insurance premiums are set to rise by up to 1000 per cent.

The Guardian on September 30 reported on a young man who bought a Tesla Model Y.

When his policy renewal fell due his insurer refused to reinsure the car.

When he finally found a company that would, his annual premium had risen from £1200 ($A2290) to £5000 in one year.

The Guardian mentioned the increased cost of repairing EVs but did not get to the heart of the issue.

The battery is about half the cost of a new EV and batteries that sit under the car floor are easily damaged in quite minor accidents.

Repairers say fixing batteries is extremely difficult and insurers tend to write off even quite new cars if there is even slight damage to the battery.

This was the problem with the Sydney Airport fire. The car's battery had been damaged and damaged batteries are more likely to catch fire.

Taking up the challenge, Fire and Rescue NSW in July launched a two-year project called Safety of Alternative Renewable Energy Technologies. This will look at lithium-ion fires, end-of-life battery hazards and EV fires in structures such as parking garages.

The website EVFireSafe.com, set up by the federal government, is a good place to start if you want to understand why lithium-ion fires are difficult to control. Continue reading

The metals are used in car batteries.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a United Nations body that administers vast mining-licence areas in international waters, announced the need for additional time to finalise mining regulations.

Originally slated for July, the delay was prompted by mounting pressure from environmentalists from countries opposing the seabed mining efforts and Greenpeace.

The Canadian-based mining startup, the Metals Company, is among the most impacted entities.

The company had teamed up with the small island nation of Nauru to pursue the first licence for large-scale seabed mining beginning in early 2024.

However, this timeline has now been derailed due to the delay imposed by the ISA.

The duration of the postponement remains uncertain, as opposing nations such as Costa Rica, Chile and France alongside other seabed mining opponents, seek to halt the mining altogether.

Conversely, supporters of seabed mining aim to expedite the process and have it underway by approximately 2025.

More research needed

Costa Rica's representative to the ISA, Gina Guillén Grillo, a prominent figure leading the opposition to seabed mining, emphasised the need for more scientific research before proceeding with such endeavours. She warned against initiating the process prematurely to avert potential disasters.

"We are on the side of the ocean. We know there is not enough science. To start right now would be a disaster," said Grillo.

Gerard Barron, CEO of the Metals Company, expressed optimism that his company, in partnership with Nauru, will ultimately secure the required approvals to proceed with the mining effort in the coming years.

The company will continue lobbying other nations to demonstrate the environmental advantages of ocean floor mining over conventional surface mining.

While the ISA works to establish environmental standards and a royalty rate for mining contractors, the Metals Company aims to convince other nations of the potential benefits of seabed mining.

The ISA has issued 31 contracts for exploratory work in various ocean regions, allowing nations and contractors to gather data on environmental impacts while extracting small quantities of seabed rocks and cobalt-rich crusts.

Environmentalists, in conjunction with nations like Costa Rica and France, view the delay as an opportunity to rally additional support for a long-term pause or even a complete moratorium on seabed mining.

Sources

New York Times

Radio Free Asia

A report released by the London-based Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) revealed that these supply chains provide batteries to major companies such as Panasonic, Tesla and Toyota.

The lack of transparency in EV battery supply chains allows end-user companies to distance themselves from lower-level abuses and evade responsibility for associated risks, according to the BHRRC's report titled "Powering Electric Vehicles."

The BHRRC identified the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (Rio Tuba) in the Philippines, as well as Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (ZHC) and CNGR Advanced Materials (CNGR), two Chinese companies operating in Indonesia, as responsible for the "rising incidents of human and environmental rights violations."

"The human rights abuses in electric vehicle supply chains need to be urgently interrogated and mitigated … and supply chain transparency and accountability must be at the heart of this," said Pochoy Labog, the BHRRC's Southeast Asia researcher.

The mining operations of these companies have had detrimental effects on local communities, including the loss of food security, destruction of rainforests, water contamination, harm to marine life and health-related problems such as respiratory issues.

Additionally, the BHRRC stated that the companies failed to obtain free, prior consent from indigenous communities before mining their lands.

Negative consequences of mining are evident

The mining and processing companies involved in these supply chains have refuted the claims made by the BHRRC, stating that their activities do not significantly impact the environment and that their own investigations have not found any rights violations.

However, the report highlights the negative consequences of these mining operations in various regions.

In Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, forests are being destroyed, mine tailings have contaminated rivers and streams, and coral reefs are being affected by the contaminated waters.

In Palawan, the Philippines, Rio Tuba's mining operations have led to water contamination, loss of food security and the destruction of rainforests.

Locals have reported health issues such as coughs and respiratory diseases, prompting water quality tests that revealed the presence of hexavalent chromium, a human carcinogen, in river water samples.

Greenpeace Philippines country director Lea Guerrero said mining is unsustainable since "extractive activity itself is highly destructive."

"We need to change how we use materials as a society," she told BenarNews. "Many mining concessions are located in islands where many biodiversity and ecosystems are destroyed just to extract minerals."

Indonesia, the world's largest producer of nickel, with 21 million metric tons (4.6 billion pounds) in proven reserves, and the Philippines, ranking fifth in reserves but second in nickel production with 330,000 metric tons (728 million pounds) in 2022, play crucial roles in the global nickel market.

"As the globe transitions to these cleaner sources of energy, companies must recognise their role in mitigating the endemic human rights issues in EV battery supply chains - and must use their leverage to hold suppliers accountable for risks in their value chains," BHRRC said.

Sources

Radio Free Asia

Business Green

CathNews New Zealand

Consumer NZ, with support from Te Manatu Waka-Ministry of Transport, decided to investigate to see if these suggestions were true.

They assessed fuel use in five PHEVs and five hybrids from five brands, the subsequent Consumer magazine report says.

Their aim was to see how real-world fuel consumption compares with the manufacturers' claims.

"While it's a small sample, it has generated some useful insights," Consumer says.

Manufacturers' fuel efficiency figures come from laboratory tests conducted under controlled settings, they point out.

"However, in reality, fuel efficiency is likely to be lower - and lower still if you don't drive with efficiency in mind."

Crucial info

Consumer notes that in New Zealand, the Clean Car Discount Scheme uses the published fuel use to calculate fees and rebates for each car.

Having the fees and rebates set to the right level is crucial for encouraging people into the right sort of vehicles.

"We also tested the real-world fuel efficiency of hybrids, PHEVs and electric vehicles (EVs) in 2020.

"We uncovered that the price of running a Hyundai Ioniq PHEV for a week compared very similarly to the hybrid version.

"It was a surprising result - we expected the PHEV cost to be much lower," Consumer says.

Consumer's real world test

"Each vehicle we trial gets the same treatment: a week of commuting in rush hour from Lower Hutt to Consumer HQ (a round trip of 28km); a run to the supermarket; and a drive over the Remutaka Hill and back to see how it goes on a longer weekend trip. In total, one week's usage makes for about 270km of motoring.

"We record fuel use (both actual and on the trip computer) and measure electricity usage where appropriate, with PHEVs.

"The actual fuel use is measured by filling the tank to the brim at the start of the trial and then again at the end, and comparing numbers.

"It's an inexact science that doesn't use any specialist or calibrated equipment, but it's still a repeatable, real-world appraisal."

Drawing some conclusions

Consumer says a summary of their findings shows:

• PHEVs averaged 45 percent over their claimed fuel use on their trip computers and 73 percent over with the fuel measured at the pump.
• Hybrids averaged 10 percent over their claimed fuel use on their trip computers and 20 percent over with the fuel measured at the pump

Although Consumer has included a chart showing numerous vehicles' percentage difference from claimed fuel usage, it's urging readers to treat them with caution.

"It's important not to sensationalise those figures - it's not robust science," Consumer says.

"Rather, it's real-world driving with the percent gains blown out by the small numbers in the PHEV claims.

"Even so, it is quite telling in our sample that the figures were much higher than claimed."

Source

• Consumer magazine

A Global Witness report released on August 9 said huge sums of money from this illegal trade have benefited local warlord Zakhung Ting Ying who controls militia units and is in charge of the mining territory that is part of Myanmar's military chain of command.

It said the mountainous areas where mining is concentrated, known as Kachin Special Region 1, are rich in biodiversity and home to dozens of rare and endangered plant and animal species, all now threatened by the pollution and deforestation caused by the rapid expansion in rare earth mining.

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The electric vehicle was a Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX, a concept car that uses a combination of advanced aerodynamics, lightweight materials and state-of-the-art battery technology that is not currently available on production EVs.

The demonstration showed what might be possible in the near future, but for now, range anxiety remains a serious consideration for anyone considering buying or switching to an electric car.

The environmental benefits may be obvious, and even performance has caught up, and in some cases exceeded the gas-guzzling counterparts, but an under-developed charging infrastructure and relatively slow charge times remain a concern for any prospective buyers.

With that in mind, we've taken a look at how the range and charge time of different EVs compare.

When buying a fossil fuel-powered car, few people ask themselves how much range it has. This is partly because it has become standardised, but also because it never takes more than a few minutes to fill up.

Not only does it take a lot longer to fully charge an EV compared to its polluting rivals, but the charging stations are also far less ubiquitous.

The official numbers stated by automakers do not always tell the full story, though various comparison sites and channels have performed real-world tests in recent years. Here's how the best-selling models in the UK compare:

• Tesla Model 3: 272 miles (438km)*
• Kia e-Niro: 230 miles (370km)
• Volkswagon ID.3: 259 miles (416km)
• Nissan Leaf: 234 miles (378km)
• Audi E-tron: 252 miles (405km)
• Hyundai Kona Electric: 258 miles (415km)
• Mini Electric: 145 miles (233km)
• Renault Zoe: 238 miles (383km)
• Vauxhall Corsa-e: 222 miles (367km)

*All figures are the base models, with some upper range models offering up to 100 miles of extra range.

The time it takes to charge an electric vehicle can vary wildly depending on whether it is done at home or with fast charge technology at a designated station.

For example, a Tesla plugged into a wall socket at home will take between 10 and 11 hours to charge, but at a Supercharger station, it is possible to fully charge the car in about an hour and a half.

Charging is logarithmic, so while 20 minutes could get you from 0-50 per cent, getting from 90-10 per cent could also take 20 minutes.

It is also worth noting that charging speed will be impacted by the weather, with EVs taking longer to charge at lower temperatures.

As the Mercedes-Benz Vision demonstrated, the potential for EVs is enormous, especially with the introduction of new battery innovations like silicon anodes.

Within the next decade, the average ranges could easily double, and unlike fuel-powered cars, they are not limited by the size of the tank, but rather the density of the battery. Continue reading

• Do I blithely bow to the climate zeitgeist and plump for a plug-in?
• Do I take a bet each way on a hybrid?
• Or do I go full-subversive and snap up a great galumphing gas-guzzling SUV as a protest against those feral tyre extinguishers on the prowl?
• Despite the giddy financial inducements, I couldn't bring myself to virtuously switch to an EV.

As someone who routinely drives cross-country every month for work purposes, I still suffer extreme range-anxiety about these plug-ins and fret about all the faff entailed in recharging them.

Fuss-free charging points are not exactly thick on the ground.

And no, I resisted the guilt-laden urge to supersize my movements with a new SUV.

I finally settled on what I believe is a progressive, incremental and pragmatic move - I purchased a vehicle with dramatically superior fuel efficiency to its predecessor.

By my estimation, the reduced fuel burn will see me slash my personal contribution to vehicle carbon emissions by 15-20% overnight.

By any tangible measure, that is sure-footed progress in curbing greenhouse gases, even if I am sticking with an internal combustion engine for now.

Admittedly, my in-built Jiminy Cricket was strongly influenced by the Government's focus on improving vehicle emission standards.

The new labelling programme allows consumers to compare vehicles based on carbon dioxide and energy economy.

And from January 1, 2023, the new Clean Car Standard takes aim at the supply of vehicles coming into New Zealand, based on their CO2 emission rating.

My fuel-efficient vehicle purchase last week also chimes with New Zealand's carbon-cutting glide path and official emissions goals.

The Climate Change Commission has stated that transport emissions must be cut by 13% by 2030, to keep the nation on track to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In Christchurch, road transport is the biggest single contributor to the city's emissions footprint, contributing 36% - so surely my purchasing decision faithfully complies with the steady focus on carbon reduction.

You'll be aware that mode-shift plays a key role in the Emissions Reduction Plan and the Government's wider climate action strategy.

By 2030, the Climate Change Commission wants twice as many trips on public transport and bikes.

In Christchurch, that equates to growing the number of commuters who routinely travel by bus to work from 4% to 8% of all commuters. (Commuting by bike currently sits at 6%.)

But I'm not convinced that permanently slashing bus fares will revolutionise commuter behaviour, particularly given bus fares are already publicly subsidised by as much as 70%. Continue reading

• Mike Yardley is a Christchurch-based writer on current affairs and travel, who has written a column for Stuff for 15 years.

"We shouldn't delude ourselves electric cars are good. They're just not as problematic as what I call ‘fossil cars'."

The study, published in Transportation Research Part D, was led by PhD graduate Dr Arif Hasan (now at the Ministry for the Environment), with the director of the University's New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute, Professor David Frame, another co-author.

They were motivated by the fact that, despite New Zealand having an "old" light-vehicle fleet with an average age of 14.1 years in 2018, nobody had attempted to calculate the full per-kilometre cost of ownership (PCO) for various cars.

Their study investigated the PCOs of new and used light-duty electric vehicles (EVs) and petrol-powered cars (internal combustion-engined vehicle, or ICEVs) over 12 years. They also looked at the emissions reduction potential of EVs.

They found the cost of owning a used EV was the lowest, at an average of about 25.5 cents a kilometre, compared with 31.5 cents for a used petrol-powered car.

Also, they calculated that replacing a light petrol-powered ICEV with a light EV could reduce carbon emissions from the use by 90 per cent if New Zealand can maintain its low-emission grid electricity.

Chapman says EVs clearly need to be part of the solution.

"But, and it is difficult to get this across, even fully electric vehicles have a significant carbon footprint because there is all that manufacturing, shipping of them around the world, recycling the battery - so, when you consider not just emissions from ‘use' but all the emissions involved, switching from a fossil car to an EV saves only about 50 per cent of your total emissions.

"So you can save 50 per cent roughly, but you can't save the other 50 per cent — they are still a carbon-intensive beast, and way worse than electric buses or electric bikes, or even car-share.

"So a better solution lies out there and it is a mix of some EVs and getting a whole lot of people to see there is another way of living, around active travel, bikes, walking, and living more centrally, in apartments and townhouses.

"The ideal would include, if they want to get around a bit further, sharing an EV parked down the road in the EV car-share park."

EV drivers shouldn't get a "free pass" on motorways or toll roads, or have free registration or road-user charges, says Chapman.

"They should be paying all those fees, but much less than fossil cars, which ought to be heavily penalised.

"In terms of carbon emissions, you don't really want to encourage people to buy electric vehicles. What you really want to do is discourage any sort of private motor vehicle, especially fossil vehicles."

Chapman says there have been 70 years of unrelenting car domination and investment on behalf of the car.

"That whole culture around cars is very hard to change. It is shifting but needs to shift radically. Continue reading

• Image: DNV.com