We are told that EVs do not experience as many fires as do Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) vehicles and that may be true. But there is no question about EV fires being much more hazardous. Besides being more hazardous, these fires can be unexpected. For example, EV battery fires in garages have occurred without the owner having any idea it was going to happen.
It is well known that EV batteries that have been exposed to salt water are very likely to ignite. EVs involved in a collision are dangerous too if the battery housing is damaged.
Salt water is conductive where common water is not. The salt water can cause a short in a lithium-ion cell thus resulting in an electricity discharge that heats up the cell. A thermal runaway reaction can then occur heating up other cells and cause them to burn. It is possible for this to cause the entire set of batteries cells to begin their own thermal runaway reaction.
CRS AUTOMOTIVE blog “HOW PRONE ARE ELECTRIC CARS TO CATCHING FIRE” adds this:
“How else is a lithium-ion battery fire different from a gasoline fire? The biggest difference is the time it takes to ignite. Gasoline fires start almost immediately when gasoline comes in contact with a spark or flame and spreads rapidly. Battery fires typically take some time to achieve the heat necessary to start the fire.
In some instances, that delay is very good news. It can let the occupants of a car involved in a crash get out of the vehicle before the fire starts. But it can pose its own problems. Sometimes a battery can be damaged, perhaps by the car running over some debris, and the driver might not be aware of the damage. And then a fire can start well after the initial incident. That could theoretically cause a fire after the car is parked in a garage. With an electric car fire, you need water. That might sound obvious, but in many cases, modern fire departments use foam or dry chemicals that are better than old-fashioned H20 at suppressing fires. While dry chemicals are great at putting down ordinary electrical fires, they may be ineffective with a fire stemming from a car’s Lithium-ion battery
Water is the best approach to a Lithium-ion fire. But that doesn’t mean you should imitate a sprinkler and attempt to dose the whole fire by moving back and forth. Rather, you want to keep a direct and focused stream on the battery until it relents – and you’d need anywhere between two to 30 tonnes (8000 gallons) of water to put out this kind of fire. Also, don’t touch the high voltage components or open up the battery. They’re the most likely part of the battery to absorb heat.”
Special training for firemen is required to deal with a potential electrical charge on the autos frame.
The visual evidence appears to show that an EV fire generally destroys the entire car. Some of the ICE fires do too, but destruction of the entire car is not a given. Most of the ICE fires occur in older cars that have not had a good maintenance history. If you had a 2015 Toyota engine fire and had to replace the entire motor, it would cost between $4,000 and $5,500. This includes the cost of parts and labor according to the CAR COSTING blog. Not cheap but certainly less than what a totaled EV would cost.
Some insurers in the UK have already begun to raise the rates of EVs.
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