A very serious incident involving a toaster and an electric car has got TGTV’s Sam Philip thinking
“A serious blunder by an electric vehicle driver has seen their car and a home go up in flames. The EV was destroyed in Denmark after its owner tried to warm its battery using a toaster. Police said they ‘strongly discourage’ people from using the dangerous method to heat power cells...”The Sun, December 2023
Hello everyone. Since destroying my electric car – and a portion of my next-door neighbour’s (who, due to ongoing legal proceedings, I am obliged to refer to only as Mr Q) home – while attempting to heat its batteries with a toaster, I have faced many questions. Questions such as “What the hell were you thinking?” and “Will your car ever stop burning?” and “Your insurance had better cover incinerating half my house, or else I will feed you to my pigs”, which is technically not even a question anyhow!
There has been much misunderstanding and speculation regarding this inferno-related incident. I wish to douse these flames of speculation, much as – with the benefit of hindsight – I wish I had doused the flames of actual fire as they engulfed my car and also Mr Q’s state of the art home cinema.
I admit using a toaster to precondition a large lithium-ion battery may seem unusual, but it is important to understand it wasn’t a regular toaster. That would be insane. It was a Dualit four-slice with optional sandwich cage. Also, I didn’t just stick an empty toaster under my car and repeatedly press the lever. Obviously I was using the toaster to toast crumpets at the same time! There’s a lot of heat wasted in the toasting process, so I thought why not put it to good use? The answer, as it turns out, is because doing so will cause what eyewitnesses called “a bonfire of hatchback”. But let’s look at the positives here. Sure, the blaze may have reduced my car, and indeed Mr Q’s gym and spa complex, to a heap of ashes, but at least the toaster emerged unscathe
