EVs and Battery Fires: Just a Lot of Smoke?

Charging an electric vehicle (Photo – Lance Cpl. Dave Flores)

One of the concerns often raised about electric vehicles is the risk of battery fires.

By Ethan Elkind

Lithium ion batteries can certainly catch fire on occasion. But how much should consumers take into account this risk when buying electric vehicles, particularly given that internal combustion engines alternatives also catch fire?

Turns out, not too much.

According to the research, the fire risk in an EV is no greater than the fire risk in a gas-powered car. For example, a U.S. Department of Transportation-funded study found that EVs are “somewhat comparable or perhaps slightly less” prone to fires compared with gas-powered cars.

Industry data bear this out, in an encouraging fashion. Tesla, the leading EV manufacturer in the US, claims that internal combustion engines are roughly 11 times more likely to catch fire than one of their EVs. And the data seem to support their claim: Teslas have, to date,  registered roughly five fires for every billion miles driven, compared to a rate of 55 fires per billion miles traveled for gasoline cars. And, more generally, lithium-ion battery cells fail at a rate of only 1 in every 12 million.

So the bottom line is that vehicles of all types are vulnerable to fires, and that risk is potentially much less in an electric vehicle, or at the very least just comparable. It’s good news, since we need electric vehicles to reduce transportation emissions and fight climate change. The main challenge going forward is preparing firefighters with the training they need to fight battery fires, which burn differently than gasoline fires.

So, if you’re considering buying an electric vehicle, don’t let the media smoke from a few battery fires obscure the truth. The climate is counting on it.