The Silent Threat: Lithium-Ion Battery Fires and the Unprepared EV Owner
The tragic story of Scott Peden, who lost his family in a fire sparked by an exploding e-bike battery, serves as a chilling reminder of the potential dangers lurking within our homes. While lithium-ion batteries power our modern lives, from smartphones to electric vehicles, their volatile nature poses a significant risk, one that many are unaware of.
Our recent interviews with electric vehicle (EV) owners revealed a disturbing trend: a complete lack of awareness regarding the proper procedures for extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires. Not a single owner we spoke with had been informed by their automobile manufacturer about this critical safety information. Even more alarming is the fact that many fire departments and firefighters lack the training and equipment to effectively combat these unique fires.
As a market research consultancy specializing in the automotive and electric vehicle industries, we are deeply concerned by these findings. We believe that raising awareness about the risks associated with lithium-ion batteries is crucial for the safety of EV owners and the general public.
In the coming weeks, we will be sharing our ongoing research and insights on this issue. We aim to shed light on the challenges faced by firefighters and first responders, as well as the steps that manufacturers and policymakers can take to improve safety standards and education.
Remember, as the old adage goes, “Thinking about fire safety after seeing smoke is like trying to douse flames with hindsight.” Don’t wait for tragedy to strike. Educate yourself about the risks and be prepared.
Contact us today to learn more about our research and how we can help your organization navigate the complex landscape of electric vehicle safety.
I’d like to not thank those who said no to me!
I cannot say for sure, but the internet states that Albert Einstein said, “I am thankful for all those who said NO to me. It is because of them that I am doing it myself.” As a business owner, I find nothing more irrelevant than wasting time on those who responded negatively to me. I have heard things like, “My supplier bailed, and now I will have to cancel the order,” and “There is no way I can perform without this venue being available.” And so many such stories that clearly state that people saying no hurts businesses terribly. It does not always lead to more efficient ways of doing things.
We would instead focus on those that said yes. Those who helped us carry the weight of things in our lives so we could concentrate on growing the business. Those who cleaned the house, helped us with a warm meal every time it was time, took care of the children while we attended to our clients, and who believed we could take this through. They say it takes a village to raise a child. However, the business that is every bit like a child has to be done alone on this long, tiresome road.
Everyone is not lucky enough to have all of the above, in any case. Some of us must bear down on life while hoping to succeed at work. Ima Solution is helping create a balanced lifestyle within your business. Get experts to create processes involving your team members and get feedback from your clients. Identify the best ways to induct your precious young ones into your business. With a total experience of 30+ years, team Ima Solution will be your tribe to be successful in your business.
Why sports are good for you?!
Exercise is good for you, doctors say that. But no, I am not here to writing a fitness. I am talking about how sports helps you take business decisions better.
For long, I have believed that if you want to judge how someone does business, watch how they play a game of sports. The golf courses around the world are famous for some of the biggest business deals to take place. Many other deals take place in the VIP sections of major sports events. Any game of sports, just as life, has its ups and down. Some are just born talent while others work their ass off to become a good player. So, how does this relate to business?
Barack Obama, the 44th President of the Unites States, was once asked what game he would call politics and he referred to American football. Just like in football, there are many players to work along with and you constantly have to change strategies and you have to keep pressing and push the ball up the field, sometimes even one yard at a time. Politics was his business at that point of time and this representation is quite fascinating.
Some like to play individual sports while others like to play team sports. While team sports would have a captain or a leader, individual sports you are pretty much on your own. Similarly, in business, some like to build a team and lead them while others like to be in charge themselves. A captain’s attitude is always under the scanner and people are quick to notice if they are captain cool, or hot headed or too scared to take risks. I believe you can observe similarities in the way they run their businesses in the way they play the sport, and this is not just restricted to the captain or leader!
I play cricket every weekend with a group of friends. One of them, I have known for 15 years. As a kid, he has always been hot headed and gets rallied up quite quickly. However, in the past one year, I noticed that he has learned to control his emotions, stay calm and even ready to take a few risks. He still gets rallied once in a while, but it is a vast change. The interesting thing is when he was discussing about his business, I could notice the similarity. He is willing to take risks quite often in his business and is far patient in his dealing as well.
In your day to day business, people probably would not yell at you if you do commit a mistake, most often no one would be aware about it. But when you are playing sports, specially with your friends or close ones, they will let you know their displeasure. Few weeks back, someone told me that I tend to get too defensive and that I should play more freely. I realized that I conduct business in similar fashion and that I need to make some changes in business as well.
In conclusion, if you run a business or intend to someday, go out and play. If you don’t, then figure out a sport that you would like to play, either with your friends, or love ones or whoever you can find. I am sure a game of sport will teach you something that you can implement in your business. And lastly, keeping the current pandemic and playing sports in mind, make sure that you always abide by the rules of the government and maintain social distancing.
Data vs. Gut – How do businesses think!
In the 60’s, when Pizza Hut and Dominos entered the pizzeria business, their decisions to expand their business relied pretty much on how much they were making each day. When Tom Monaghan, the founder of Dominos, realised that they can earn even up to $3,000 in a single night through a promotion, he knew it was an instant hit. That promotion was Super Sunday way back in Jan 1971. Tom did not need a BI to help him take decisions, he figured this one out himself!
Today, Data Science, BI or Business Intelligence, Machine Learning or even the simplistic phrase, data driven decision making, has all become a norm. Mind you, I am all for it. I strongly believe that businesses should adapt themselves with time which can be a separate topic to be talked about. My own firm encourages businesses to install practices which helps make best use of their data.
The topic for discussion is how do businesses make use of the data and how bold are they to go ahead and take decisions to make them. It is one thing to know what needs to be done but doing what is right or what you think is right, is the real beast! Think of it this way, I can see my belly and I know that I need to lose weight. The obvious answer would be to exercise. Other alternatives would be to change diet or undergo a surgery and remove the extra flab. But how often one finds unable to take any action. That is what I am talking about. Often I notice that even while businesses have all the information they need to take a decision, no matter whatever solution you feel is best, they simply fail to take any action. It is even acceptable if the action plan fails. At least we tried right! But quite often management overlook until the time comes when taking any action is too little too late.
In 2009, Patrick Doyle was informed by the research team that in the taste scores, people rate Dominos much less when they know they are eating Dominos pizza than the blind taste. The information was evident, people think Dominos pizza taste bad. Patrick knew that making changes into their processes and make the pizzas taste better is not going to work. People didn’t have problem with the pizzas, it was Dominos that they begin to hate. His decision to run a campaign where Dominos openly accepted that their pizzas taste bad was one of the boldest moves ever taken by a CEO. It worked dividends as sales went up by 14%.
The results of a taste scores can be captured much accurately and presented in far fancy looking reports than it was back then, thanks to all the latest tools that are there at disposable. The question however that arises is, would any intelligence have come up with the idea to deal with the problem in the way Patrick and his team did. And more importantly, as a business, would you have the guts to take such a decision? Just to give you a sense of how detrimental this could have been, a food consumer is stating that their pizzas, their core product taste bad, they even had consumers state that their ‘crust taste like cardboard’! You never step into a restaurant where the person at the door says, “We know our food taste bad but thank you for dining with us”. That was simply guts based on which businesses have been working since time.
As I have said before, data is important and we at Ima Solution strongly encourage it. Dominos needed the data to know how consumers feel about them. The key takeaway is act upon the information that you have, no matter what the result may be. If you still living under the rock and don’t use data, start using it now! If you do, then sit with your team and act on the information that you have collected. Because without that, you might be just sitting on a pile of gold, unaware!