The Auto Industry Finally Has a Plan to Stop Electric Vehicle Fires

I love electric cars. I drive one. Still, this idea that gas/diesel fires are more common needs to be put into perspective.

Yes, per mile driven, ICE cars catch fire more frequently. That much is true. BUT putting out a fire in an ICE car is almost trivial. I’ve extinguished two of them with just a handheld fire extinguisher.

The same absolutely can’t be said of EV fires. They burn much hotter and a many, many times more difficult to extinguish. Even when you think the fire is out, the energy in the battery cells can restart the thermal runaway and reignite the battery. That means you will almost always need a multi-truck response from the fire department and at least one truck will have to sit with the vehicle for hours after the fire is controlled. You can’t even tow or flatbed the thing until you’re reasonably sure it’s out. Even with all that, there have been a few cases of EV fires restarting in junkyards/impound lots.

TL;DR: EV fires are not comparable to ICE fires. They are much worse.

12 comments

A snuffer, upside-down dumpster?
Ok cool. What about gas vehicle fires?
Edit: in case you’re unaware, gas and diesel cars are 20 times more likely to catch fire than EVs.
- I love electric cars. I drive one. Still, this idea that gas/diesel fires are more common needs to be put into perspective.
  Yes, per mile driven, ICE cars catch fire more frequently. That much is true. BUT putting out a fire in an ICE car is almost trivial. I’ve extinguished two of them with just a handheld fire extinguisher.
  The same absolutely can’t be said of EV fires. They burn much hotter and a many, many times more difficult to extinguish. Even when you think the fire is out, the energy in the battery cells can restart the thermal runaway and reignite the battery. That means you will almost always need a multi-truck response from the fire department and at least one truck will have to sit with the vehicle for hours after the fire is controlled. You can’t even tow or flatbed the thing until you’re reasonably sure it’s out. Even with all that, there have been a few cases of EV fires restarting in junkyards/impound lots.
  TL;DR: EV fires are not comparable to ICE fires. They are much worse.
  
  Sure, but I can’t douse you in a lithium ion battery.
- Those are a lot easier.