Electric vehicle fires, like the one that consumed a Tesla and killed four people on Lake Shore Boulevard Thursday morning, are scary and seem to happen frequently.
This is mostly because EVs are new and novel, and the fires attract media attention. But the data shows that . The problem is that when they catch fire, they are far harder to put out.
The reason is simple, experts say. While internal combustion engines are always creating small, controlled fires to propel the car, EVs operate with electricity and don’t require fire to move. Gasoline-powered cars also drive around with a large tank of highly-combustible fluid on board, while EV batteries are not as likely to explode.
But when an EV battery (or any lithium-ion battery, like the ones found in e-bikes, laptops and cellphones) catches fire, either from overheating or short-circuiting which can happen in a collision, it starts a chemical reaction — called “thermal runaway” — that is difficult to stop. The fire doesn’t even need oxygen to keep going, as .
That kind of unstoppable fire is frightening and has led to new firefighting techniques, including putting the battery in a sealed container and covering it in sand because it can reignite weeks later, according to º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøFire Services Deputy Chief Jim Jessop.Â
The Tesla battery from Thursday’s fire was put in a dumpster and taken to a safe location, Jessop said.
However, studies from around the world have found that EV fires are much more rare than gas-powered vehicle fires.
In Norway, which has the world’s highest proportion of EVs, there are four to five times more fires in internal-combustion cars, according to . In Sweden, there were 3.8 fires per 100,000 electric or hybrid cars in 2022, compared with 68 fires per 100,000 cars when taking all fuel types into account.Â
´¡³Ü²õ³Ù°ù²¹±ô¾±²¹â€™sÌý database found there was a 0.0012 per cent chance of an EV catching fire and a 0.1 per cent chance for internal combustion engine cars — 83 times more likely.
They only found since 2010.
Tesla put out a report that found the number of fires on U.S. roads involving Teslas from 2012 to 2021 was .
Yet lithium-ion battery fires are on the rise, with the most on record happening this year, said Marla Friebe, acting division chief for public education and professional development with º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøFire Services.
“Where we’re seeing them is in micromobility devices. Not so much electric vehicles and not so much cellphones, but it’s the e-powered bicycles, scooters, hoverboards,” she said.
The fires are often due to overcharging or using chargers that don’t match the device, she said.
“People lose their charger and go online to purchase a cheaper option that doesn’t match their device,” Friebe said. “There’s so much that you can do to keep yourself safe with these devices.
“This is the future. We’re not going to end lithium-ion battery powered devices, but we can help people live with them much more safely.”
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