A stupid family decided to buy a cordless vacuum cleaner. You know, the ones that use lithium ion batteries, the same batteries that power electric cars. Well, guess what? Their house has now burned down! quote from the article: "In the case of the vacuum, the family did everything right. They matched the battery specifications." Fire department warns about charging batteries after 2 house fires in Blue Springs, Missouri (kmbc.com) So you didn't realize cordless appliances with lithium ion batteries that store a lot of power could present a fire danger to your house? In this ultra modern world, progressive Leftists will think that the family should be able to sue - sue someone, some big corporation, for the damage to their house; that they should not have to bear any responsibility for this. But to a conservative mindset, that naive family got what was coming to them, and should have to bear the responsibility of their own stupidity. The manufacturer of that battery is probably some company located in China.
I wouldn't say that as a conservative. After all, how many people drown in bathtubs and die in car accidents? Stuff happens.
There is an inherent danger to higher power lithium ion batteries. Try to store lots of energy in a small thing, it really should not be surprising. Why can't people just buy a vacuum cleaner with a normal cord? People these days seem to want magical convenient things, without any of the risks or drawbacks.
There are inherent dangers to bathtubs and bunk beds too. Unless a majority of lithium-ion batteries are causing fires, which they aren't, there's no point here. Besides, plenty of corded items have started fires and electrocuted people. In fact, I'd say extension cords cause a lot more fires than batteries.
I have 7 or more tools that are powered buy lithium due to not having power access to some locations that I use them at. None of them have had an issue. The chargers should have temperature and safety controls just like your power socket has a fuse. If some company built your house without fuses and it burned down, i would support your lawsuit.
There's no doubt they CAN be dangerous, like the infamous exploding Samsung cell phones. That was a defect in manufacturing though, and we see that with everything from tires to building materials. No more dangerous than cooking with grease though.
What people don't understand is that some types of appliances require a lot more energy than others. It is unfair to really compare the battery in a laptop computer or power drill to the battery in a cordless high power vacuum cleaner or an electric car. Bigger battery and more energy means much greater risk of overheating.