It’s understandable to be afraid about an electric vehicle (EV) battery catching fire, given recent news about electric car fires and similar mishaps with overheated lithium-ion mobile phone batteries. But how frequently does this occur, and why?
Do Electric Vehicles Catch Fire More Frequently Than Gas Vehicles?
At the time of writing, there isn’t a lot of data on electric vehicle fires compared to how long gas cars have been around. However, there is enough information to make some decisions. To obtain an answer to the issue of how often electric cars catch fire, Autoinsurance EZ reviewed data from a variety of sources.
Their information came from the following sources:
Recalls.gov is a service provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Hybrids had the most fires per 100,000 vehicles sold, while battery electric vehicles had the fewest. Gasoline vehicles were far and by the vehicle type with the most overall number of fires.
In a gas automobile, a number of components may cause a fire, but the battery was nearly always the culprit in EVs and hybrids, according to recall data. Overall, EVs had a 0.3 percent chance of catching fire, whereas gas cars had a 1.05 percent chance. That should be good news for EV drivers, but car fires are deadly regardless of the source, according to the Autoinsurance EZ research.
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Their information came from the following sources:
Recalls.gov is a service provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Hybrids had the most fires per 100,000 vehicles sold, while battery electric vehicles had the fewest. Gasoline vehicles were far and by the vehicle type with the most overall number of fires. In a gas automobile, a number of components may cause a fire, but the battery was nearly always the culprit in EVs and hybrids, according to recall data.
Overall, EVs had a 0.3 percent chance of catching fire, whereas gas cars had a 1.05 percent chance. That should be good news for EV drivers, but car fires are deadly regardless of the source, according to the AutoinsuranceEZ research.
EV Fires are less common, but they are more difficult to put out
EV car fires burn hotter and for a longer period of time than gasoline car fires, despite the fact that they are rarer. In gas automobiles, there is normally a single reaction that causes the fire, similar to a spark in a puddle of gasoline, and that reaction gradually burns out. When the lithium-ion battery in an electric vehicle (EV) flames, the battery burns the energy stored inside, becoming the fire’s primary source of energy and taking significantly longer to exhaust.
Lithium-ion traction batteries are made to hold a lot of energy in a little amount of area. Each cell has a flammable electrolyte as well as electrodes that can short if they are broken or maintained poorly, causing the cell to overheat. If one cell in the battery pack overheats, it can start a process known as thermal runaway, which is essentially a positive feedback loop in which it keeps getting hotter and hotter until the whole thing explodes.
Lithium-ion batteries can potentially relight after being turned off if moving them causes more damage or new short circuits. Because firefighters are often trained to put out flames in gasoline cars, they may have difficulty putting out an EV fire because it acts differently.
Rather of cooling down the area of the automobile that a fireman would typically do, they must divert water to the vehicle’s underbelly, where the battery pack is located. If the stranded energy inside the battery is not appropriately dealt with, it can cause the battery to re-ignite hours or even days after the initial fire has been extinguished.
What Causes an Electric Vehicle to Catch Fire?
A fire in an electric automobile can be caused by a number of sources, the most common of which being the battery. If the battery is damaged in an accident, for example, a short circuit can occur in one or more lithium-ion cells, resulting in a thermal runaway chain reaction.
Components inside the battery pack may deteriorate to the point where a malfunction causes a fire if they are not properly maintained. Car fires may be caused by manufacturing flaws in both electric and fuel automobiles. A person’s age might also be an influence.
There isn’t enough evidence to indicate if electric car batteries that are 20 years old or older are more likely to catch fire, but it’s something to keep in mind because the components may degrade with time due to heavy use and inadequate maintenance.
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Should You Be Concerned About Electric Vehicle Fires
The final fact is that EV fires are significantly less common than fires in gasoline automobiles at the time of writing. They’re also significantly hotter and burn for longer periods of time, making them extremely hazardous.
This isn’t to say that all electric vehicles are inherently riskier than gas vehicles; rather, consistent safety criteria should be devised particularly to address these incidents if and when they occur. If you have one, make sure you’re taking good care of the components to keep the danger to a minimum.
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