What are the fire risks in electric cars?

Brian England, Mon, Feb 20, 2023

There are many important things to consider when buying an electric car. Recently, there has been a lot of publicity about the potential of electric vehicles to catch fire. Here is some valuable information you should know:

When driving a gasoline operated vehicle, fire has always been an issue for car owners. Carrying around gallons of highly flammable gasoline is potentially dangerous. It doesn’t take much to ignite gasoline even in a small accident. If you were driving in the 1970s, you probably remember the safety issues with Ford Pinto. A rear collision could puncture the gas tank and start a fire. The Ford LTD had a poorly designed fuel filter and line. If this line failed, it squirted gas on the distributor where a high energy spark could ignite the vehicle’s gasoline. More recently, Hyundai Kia had to recall over 200,000 of their 2018 SUVs due a fire risk.

How many fires are related to gas powered vehicles?
It currently stands at 1500 out of 100,000 vehicles had fires.

In comparison, how many fires are related to electric powered vehicles?
There have only been 25 fires per 100,000. For the Chevy Bolt it is 10 in 100,000.

As you can see, fire risks in electric cars are lower compared to gasoline powered vehicles. Although none of these risks should not be ignored, the information here is important to know if you are thinking about purchasing an electric vehicle.

Further information can be found on the government NHTSA website:
https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/recall-all-chevy-bolt-vehicles-fire-risk