by Gabrielle DeSantis

You’ve probably seen videos of people stabbing cell phone batteries with a knife. First of all, don’t. Please, do not. Not smart. Second, that same principle can apply to electric vehicle batteries, making fires dangerous and hard to put out. Now, with the near-widespread acceptance of our EV future, it’s time to examine what causes these fires, as well as why they’re so difficult and dangerous to put out. Finally, we’ll look at the environmental impact of doing so.

Cell rupture and thermal runaway are key

An electric vehicle battery is made up of a few parts. First, there’s that hard metal shell you see above. Below that is where the batteries and the cooling systems are housed. Evidently, the inside of an electric vehicle battery is not somewhere you want things to get. This rupturing is the key to why the majority of EV fires start, as well as why they’re so hard to get out.

Usually, like your phone, an electric vehicle battery is made of a lithium-ion cell. Just like those videos of people puncturing phone batteries, the lithium in an EV like a Tesla reacts violently to air and water. Of course, by violently I mean explosively. Fortunately, this is a pretty rare occurrence. It takes a lot to puncture these cells, and vehicles nowadays often have additional protection to make sure that is never an issue- for you or the fire department.

Electric vehicle batteries can reignite

However, it’s this cellular structure that is both a benefit and a weakness. If a cell is punctured, odds are it’ll do something bad, be it igniting or failing. Of course, if one cell does happen to puncture, there can be a chain reaction. Cell after cell can puncture and burn, and it’s often hard to tell how severe that can be, per NBC. Moreover, it’s difficult to tell when the risk has passed. Slow leaks can cause flare-ups hours or even days later.

So, it’s not necessarily that electric vehicle batteries will just magically catch fire again. Rather, it’s that the chain reaction we’re talking about can often be slow, with cells rupturing and burning at different rates. That’s invariably the biggest danger here. It’s hard for firefighters to tell when fires are out, and once they’re out if they’ll come back.

Water usage is a serious concern

This leaves us with the environmental ramifications. Not only do we have raw lithium and other components making their way out into the world, but it takes an absurd amount of water to get them out. NBC says firefighters used 28,000 gallons to put out the fire that killed two driving a Tesla in April. Compare that with an average of 300 gallons for a petrol fire, and we’ve got a problem. We simply can’t go using that much water to fight fires in vehicles that are becoming more and more common on the road. For now, the best thing for first responders is training, and practices like Tesla’s first responder guidelines.

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by Gabrielle DeSantis

Selling your car can be very time-consuming and even a downright hassle at times. If you’re selling it to a private party, then you have to deal with vetting calls and low-ball offers. And if you sell it to a dealership, you will want to make sure that you’re getting the most money possible. But what if you could your car completely online without having to haggle or even leave your house? In that case, CarGurus has a solution.

The CarGurus Instant Cash Max Offer is an easy point-and-click affair

Selling your car can be a pain if you’re planning to sell it to a dealership or used car dealer. When going this route, you’ll want to shop the car around to different places like traditional dealerships and Carmax in order to get the best offer possible. However, CarGurus recently rolled out its “Instant Cash Max Offer” program where private car sellers can get quotes from a “network of thousands of different dealerships” with a few simple clicks, according to the online classifieds site.

To see how easy it was, I decided to see what steps would be necessary if I wanted to sell my 2008 Honda S2000. After logging onto CarGuru’s “Sell My Car” page where sellers can find their instant cash offer, I was greeted with a series of fields to fill out about my car. After clicking “continue” at the end, I was greeted with an instant cash offer of $19,865 within seconds.

It’s not a bad offer and it seems competitive with other sites like Carmax and Carvana. However, I don’t plan on selling my car, but for anyone that is planning to sell theirs, the process is simple. After obtaining the offer, sellers will need to fill out their personal information including a pick-up spot and time for the car. When that date arrives, the vehicle will be picked up and a check will be given to the seller after a quick on-the-spot inspection. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Carvana has a similar process, except they don’t work with a network of dealerships like CarGurus does.

The cash offer works well for the dealerships involved

This online selling process isn’t just convenient for car sellers, it’s convenient for the participating dealerships as well. The dealerships currently involved in CarGuru’s Car Offer network can easily acquire cars to add to their current used-car inventories without having to work directly with the sellers. Instead, the vehicles are picked up via a “white glove” service, inspected, and then delivered to the dealer’s lot.

So far, the dealerships that are already involved in the process see it as an asset. Here’s one testimonial provided by CarGurus:

“Inventory acquisition is a major priority at Archibald’s and we often look for ways beyond auctions or trade-ins to purchase vehicles, and that includes searching for consumers who may not immediately come to us to buy a car,” said Danny Archibald, Owner of Archibald’s. “CarGurus’ large shopper audience coupled with this latest offering should increase both the quantity and types of inventory coming through our dealership, and we’re excited to see how it can work for our business.” 

Whether you’re a seller or dealership, CarGurus makes buying and selling easy

Ultimately, CarGuru’s Instant Cash Max Offer makes selling your car a breeze. The only unfortunate part is that the service is only offered in the Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas areas. So if you don’t live in one of those states, you’ll have to wait. But at least it’s better than vetting phone calls or getting offers from different dealerships.

RELATED: CarMax or Carvana: Which Is Better for Buying a Used Car?

The post You Can Now Sell Your Car 100 Percent Online With CarGurus appeared first on MotorBiscuit.