> How is there no outrage against ice vehicle fires killing people on a regular basis?
This ignores the fact that there is a genuinely novel risk with Lithium-Ion batteries, which is that they contain large amounts of "stranded energy" which can trigger new fires. See the linked video above for examples of car fires being extinguished, only to have the car then taken to a tow yard where the battery spontaneously started another fire 5 days later due to the massive amount of energy in a non-discoverable state and the very unstable nature of it. With a gas tank, you at least have a reliable way to drain it, and it's not so volatile as to just spark up by itself. Given the current situation, I wouldn't be surprised to see tow companies that refuse to accept EVs due to the unpredictable nature of them in wrecked form.
With a gas tank, if it's on fire and you are close enough to drain it, I'd advise you to run like hell. That's how people die in ice fires: they are not quick enough moving away from the exploding gallons of fuel. Quite often the problem is that the car is engulfed in flames before the people inside even have a chance to leave the vehicle.
EV fires are more of a slow burn. Annoying if it happens to your car but you are very likely to have lots of opportunity to walk away from it. Just material damage. And again, the incidence rate of this happening is comparatively low to lethal ice car fires. Like by at least an order of magnitude; probably several.
The number of car fires in the US per year is in the hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of people killed. Loads of property destroyed. They catch fire while driving, when parked, when involved in accidents, etc. Occasionally they are set on fire intentionally (which is pretty easy and a popular action movie plot point). Making a petrol car go boom is stupidly easy. Happens all the time.
I would be very surprised to see tow companies decline what will soon be the majority of their business as ice vehicles become like the fossilized dinosaurs they burn: extinct. Towing electrical cars will be the only business they have long term. Of course, it's a free country and somebody else will happily take their business if some tow truck driver gets a bit irrational and anxious. Of course the tow trucks themselves will become electric as well at some point.
A vehicle cargo ship recently sunk off the Azures due to an out of control multiple EV fire. It is quite possible that ocean freight will require fully discharged batteries before transport in future.
This ignores the fact that there is a genuinely novel risk with Lithium-Ion batteries, which is that they contain large amounts of "stranded energy" which can trigger new fires. See the linked video above for examples of car fires being extinguished, only to have the car then taken to a tow yard where the battery spontaneously started another fire 5 days later due to the massive amount of energy in a non-discoverable state and the very unstable nature of it. With a gas tank, you at least have a reliable way to drain it, and it's not so volatile as to just spark up by itself. Given the current situation, I wouldn't be surprised to see tow companies that refuse to accept EVs due to the unpredictable nature of them in wrecked form.