Quinton: Worried about your car catching fire? Buy an EV
I have attended two public meetings in the last few weeks where a similar question was asked by different people. First at the Walking Mountains Science Center/CLEER EV Ride n’ Drive event in Eagle, and then at the Holy Cross AGM at 4 Eagle Ranch, a member of the public posed a question about electric vehicle fires.
The premise each time being: “They seem to catch fire a lot, don’t they?”
First, the facts: Kelley Blue Book reported on National Transportation Safety Board data which showed that hybrid-powered cars were involved in about 3,475 fires per every 100,000 sold. Gasoline-powered cars, about 1,530. Electric vehicles saw just 25 fires per 100,000 sold.
That’s a pretty big difference with hybrids being some two times as likely to catch fire than regular gas cars but with the incidence of fires in EVs being much lower. Meanwhile, more recently, Forbes reported that: “Electric vehicle cognoscenti can breathe a sigh of relief. Comprehensive data now shows EVs are much less likely to burst into flames than internal combustion engine vehicles, according to experts.”
In this case, they cited several “fires per miles traveled studies” (arguably a better metric than just the number sold) which concluded that gas cars catch fire 10 times more often than EVs.
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Second, the disconnect: Some issues with EV fires make them newsworthy and of concern, including the fact that they burn hotter and are prone to reignite. But why are people worried about the incidence of EV fires when the data shows that they are considerably less of a fire risk?
Most likely they have seen a post on Facebook or a media article that picks on specific instances with a photo of a blazing vehicle as the centerpiece. At the Eagle event, Martin Bonzi, the transportation program manager at Clean Energy Economy for the Region based in Carbondale, addressed this head-on when he responded to the questioner noting that there is an effort to promote disinformation about EVs, backed in part by entities that see them as a risk to their business futures (i.e. the oil and gas industry). To that, I would add that bad-faith political actors are trying to use EVs as a so-called “culture war” issue, regardless of reality.
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Third, the bottom line: the results are in, and they are clear. Rest assured that fires are pretty rare, whatever your vehicle. But if you are worried about the risk of your car catching fire … buy an EV.
Adam Quinton lives in Edwards and is a member of the boards of Holy Cross Energy, the Colorado Rural Electric Association and Walking Mountains Science Center. He holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University in England.
