http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/1njv4y/an_ecig_just_exploded_in_my_friends_car/
Something with that much explosive force and heat is not going anywhere near my brain or eyes. Thighs? Yes. Brain? No.
A flashlight body can withstand some force. so I think, you will not be that hurt if the flashlight is handheld….Headlight tho might be another story …
how can ecig create so much damage?but this is a warning for all of us do not attempt Li Ion if you don’t know with what you deal with 
Any more details to this picture?
Some of these e-cigarette chargers are really unsafe, for example this eGo:
Better stay away from cars, too - I hear those things have huge containers of gasoline in them, plus wires strung from one end to the other and connected to a huge battery capable of several hundred amps! They even have wires and pumps with brushed electric motors down INSIDE the gas tank! :O
From reading the FT forums, it seems a lot of vapers use Ultrafire batteries, and the vast majority of them don't check their batteries or chargers with a multimeter. Combine crappy batteries and chargers with careless users, and I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.
Using protected cells would prevent such disaster ? I wonder why protected cells is not obligatory for consumer market.
Its like a legal pipe bomb. :~
Unfortunately, this type of incident is becoming more prevalent and ups the ante in the media about big bad and dangerous lithium batteries.
Being in the media more often is not the same as happening more often.
Tell that to youngsters. The dark ages? Nothing happened then. Unless events were recorded and can now be googled, it didn't happen. Killed and completely eaten by a wild animal? Didn't happen unless it can be found on the internet.
Fair point. A lot of evidence regarding abuse of lithium batteries may well be anecdotal but it seems to me inevitable that the increased use of e-cig technology has led to more people queueing up for a Darwin Award and that the media are quick to jump on the scaremonger bandwagon.
Shark attacks! (pay no attention to the statistics that show the number of shark attacks was the same as before the media feeding frenzy started)
Protected cells, unprotected cells. What does it matter. When you have a group of consumers determined to pay as little as possible (like us with lights) there will ALWAYS be some one some where willing to cut all the safety corners to supply the market at the minimum cost.
This combined with the fact that smokers tend to be less smart than non-smokers supports the notion that there are more smart people on BLF using li-ion in far more strenuous conditions than less smart people using li-ion in ecigs.
But if we don’t hear about it in the news, how will we know what to legislate against? 
Cars, yes, but what are we doing about Dihydrogen monoxide? Clearly, this is a much more pressing issue:
Dihydrogen monoxide:
-is called “hydroxyl acid”, the substance is the major component of acid rain.
-contributes to the “greenhouse effect”.
-may cause severe burns.
-is fatal if inhaled.
-contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
-accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
-may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
-has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
-as an industrial solvent and coolant.
-in nuclear power plants.
-in the production of Styrofoam.
-as a fire retardant.
-in many forms of cruel animal research.
-in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
-as an additive in certain “junk-foods” and other food products.
First paragraph from here Dihydrogen monoxide parody - Wikipedia
And a bit farther down
Sprung Baaaaaaad 
Cheers David
I talked to XTAR about this as the VP1 and their unprotected 14500 battery are huge with e-cig users. Size was a determining factor, wanting to be compatible with as many e-cigs already on the market it a protected cell just would not fit. One of the reasons the VP1 was developed was to provide an easy and safe charger for non enthusiasts like most e-cigs user would be.
But it is amazing the junk that a typical Chinese factor is willing to churn out with out any concern for liability.
The only reason why lithium batteries explode is when they’re overcharged beyond the limit. Seems the same in this case
All the wife’s e-ciggies take unprotected cells I believe, because all the models she has have the protection circuit built into the e-ciggy hardware itself.
For most of her e-ciggies, she gives me the cell to charge, I charge it and give it back to her.