That news clip from Chicago was interesting, though. When/if it happens, the first death from freezing in an out-of-charge EV is going to create a stir.


Ok, but then we would have to compare it with how many times people freeze in an out-of-gas gas vehicles. Which should be close to zero, because most people call for help at some point before they freeze to death, whether they are driving a gas vehicle or an EV.

And even though running out of energy is more of a problem for range-limited EVs than it is for gas-powered vehicles, it's important to take a step back and look at the overall danger level. Some people will freeze to death in their EV, and some will be burnt to death by battery fires. But how does this compare with gas vehicles, which are driving around with 50kg of a highly inflammable liquid?

We are used to people burning to death in their gas cars, so you are probably right, the analogous EV deaths will create more of a stir. Bad publicity might hurt EV sales in the short term, but I doubt it will change the trend in the long run.