√Toaster causes electric car fire in Denmark

If you need to warm up your electric car’s battery, a toaster is not recommended to do the job safely.

An electric-car owner in Denmark has found out the hard way that a do-it-yourself solution to extend a battery-powered vehicle’s range can have drastic – and potentially fatal – consequences.

According to the Associated Press, Danish police claim the electric car caught fire after its owner placed a live toaster underneath the vehicle – which was parked under a carport – in an attempt to warm its battery.

In cold environments, an electric car’s battery does not operate as efficiently, causing it to lose charge at a faster rate than in warmer temperatures.

The fire not only destroyed the unnamed electric car but also caused damage to a nearby home, though no injuries have been reported as a result of the incident.

The publication reports the electric car’s owner faces a fine, while Danish police have “strongly discouraged” the use of a toaster to warm a vehicle’s battery.

As previously reported, there have only been six reported vehicle fires caused by electric-car batteries in Australia.

In all six cases, the battery which sparked the fire had been damaged – either intentionally or accidentally – but none of these incidents involved electric cars which were charging at the time.

In New South Wales alone, there were 2942 vehicle fires (including those powered by petrol, diesel or electricity) in the state between July 2020 to June 2021.

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