Toronto, Ontario — According to a recent study by AutoInsuranceEZ, electric vehicles (EVs) are almost 100 times less vulnerable to vehicle fires than traditional gas-fueled vehicles.
Vehicles of all power sources see annual recalls for fire risks, but electric vehicles remain the safest and least likely to face fire risk model recalls. Compared to hybrid and electric vehicles which were recalled for battery issues, gasoline engines had more points of failure such as fuel leakage and electric shorts.
However, there is a difference in the intensity of fire incidents based on fuel source. Lithium-ion batteries are significantly harder to extinguish than gas fires – the batteries can be very difficult to cool down, and could burn for hours. Even then, an EV that appears extinguished can reignite.
This doesn’t mean EVs are ticking firebombs though. Statistically speaking, you are 100 times more likely to experience a car fire in a hybrid or gas vehicle than an EV.
This study uses data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and recall data in the United States.
