July 2024
Electric vehicle fire incidents are increasing.
Electric vehicle fires are less common than gas-powered car fires. When they occur, these fires are different and can be more difficult to extinguish.
Electric vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries, similar to those used in many household devices but much larger. When damaged, these batteries can cause a chemical reaction leading to uncontrollable self-heating, described as “thermal runaway.” This can occur when a battery gets punctured.
Once a battery fire starts, it can quickly spread between battery cells while burning hotter than gas fires and be more prone to re-igniting. Lithium-ion battery fires don’t require oxygen to burn so can be harder to extinguish. They can require 20 times more water than a comparable gas fire.
Larger electric trucks and SUVs require even larger batteries which cause larger, hotter and more difficult to extinguish fires.
