So many scare stories about e-cigs, mainly due to the government losing millions and millions in taxation... I keep reading that they sometimes explode...

Personally, I no longer use my e-cig, but I sometimes smoke. A failure? Not at all. I can go for days and days without inhaling anything. But when I have a night out (which doesn't happen very often nowadays), I do like a few ciggies. it isn't an addiction anymore, just something I do for pleasure on special occasions. Put it like this, I used to be a 20-a-day fella to a 40-a-month kind of guy, if that. And I can live with those numbers.
Did I completely give up smoking? No. But the e-cigs got me out of a very expensive habit, so bloody love 'em.