AUTONEWS

Which is more incendiary: the electrified or the combustion model?

It has already been reported, on several occasions in relation to models from different brands, cases in which a fire broke out in an electric vehicle consumed everything that the flames managed to engulf around it. It happened with Tesla cars, but also Mercedes and Porsche without forgetting the financial nightmare that was, especially for BMW and Mercedes, the dramatic episode on board the Fremantle Highway. Situations of this type continue (and will continue) to occur again, and can sometimes serve as an argument against adopting electric mobility alternatives. After all, if even scooters burn and cause serious damage in the process, why should the most fearful drivers risk switching to a battery-powered car? The question is not new, but a set of recent studies, cited by the British newspaper The Guardian, demolishes the argument that some of the detractors of electric vehicles insist on advancing. It is now confirmed that there is no reason: there are up to 18 times more fires involving gasoline or diesel cars than in cars with batteries (hybrid or electric).

The conclusion is drawn from a study carried out by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, a country whose circulating fleet is still mostly dominated by gasoline or diesel vehicles (4.4 million) and where, despite the number of electric cars having practically doubled in recent years, now reaching 611 thousand units, the number of fires involving electrified models has “stabilized” in the last three years. After all, according to the research, for every 100,000 combustion cars, 68 of them were victims of a fire. Meanwhile, in electric vehicles the proportion drops to just 3.8, including in both cases even the episodes in which the fire is set (criminal hand), which can influence the results, messing with the two scales. .

This conclusion aligns with what Tesla CEO Elon Musk has always defended: cars that fill up with fuel burn more than those that recharge batteries. According to the businessman — who advocates on his own behalf, as Tesla exclusively manufactures electric models —, between 2012 and 2021, 11 times fewer of the brand's models burned per kilometer than the number of all cars. In the period mentioned, “there was approximately one fire in a Tesla vehicle for every 340 million kilometers traveled”, informs the brand. “In comparison, data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the US Department of Transportation show that in the United States there is one vehicle fire every 30 million miles driven.” The manufacturer also notes that, although the statistics favor Tesla models, the numbers include cases in which the fire did not originate in the car, in order to make the comparison with NFPA data more accurate.

And what is the reality in the “paradise” of trams?...We are referring, of course, to Norway, a country at the forefront of electrification that stood out from the rest by adopting a tax policy early on that exempted battery-powered models, among other benefits. , leading consumers to embrace technology. To give you an idea, in 2022, 79.3% of sales of light passenger vehicles were absorbed by battery-powered models, a number that even reached 83% in the final month of last year. Now, in the market that is proportionally the world's largest buyer of electric vehicles, it was concluded that there are between four and five times more fires in gasoline and diesel cars than in rechargeable models.

In Australia, research is underway, funded by the Department of Defense, which aims to dispel some myths associated with electric vehicles and the risk of fire. And the first conclusion from EV Fire Safe is that electric cars are (much) less likely to catch fire than ICE ones. “Studies are ongoing, but evidence suggests that a traction battery is less likely to catch fire than vehicles with an internal combustion engine,” the opening reads. Specifically, while the latter have a 0.1% chance of burning, the risk of a battery burning is 0.0012%.

But what happens when electric vehicles start to burn? What is the best way to proceed? Below we list nine conclusions reached by EV Fire Safe that, we believe, can contribute to enlightening drivers:

-All fires that break out in the battery of an electric vehicle are due to thermal leakage, when the cell suffers a short circuit or loses its electrolyte.

-When a combustion model burns, the temperature can reach 815ºC, in an electric vehicle it reaches 2760ºC.

-A battery with a state of charge (SoC) of less than 50% is less likely to start a fire.

-Water is the most effective way to extinguish an electric car fire. To contain the flames, a minimum of 4000 liters of water must be used.

-Batteries placed under the floor of the vehicle may result in the electric vehicle having to be lifted to put out the fire.

-The recommendation is to “let the battery burn”, if the location allows it. EV SafeFire says that this reduces the risks to which teams providing assistance are exposed.

-Whenever the battery does not burn completely, there is a risk of reignition.

-An electric vehicle immersed in water will not electrocute.

-The smoke you see is a vapor cloud of highly flammable gases, mainly hydrogen.

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