How much of a fire risk are electric vehicles?

Experts are divided on how best to tackle an EV fire but, generally, immense quantities of water to cool the battery pack (although this won’t prevent fire erupting again), a fire blanket to suppress the flames and breathing equipment for the firefighters to protect them from the toxic vapour cloud is the standard approach. Either that or simply let the blaze burn itself out. 

Attempting to suffocate the fire with inert gases is ineffective because, being a chemical blaze, it doesn't require oxygen. Meanwhile, the surrounding area must be checked for discarded battery cells that could have been propelled from the battery pack by an explosion and might spontaneously ignite later. 

Following containment, the burnt-out EV must be removed and deposited in a compound away from buildings and other vehicles. (Some 25% of scrapyard fires are caused by spent lithium ion batteries.)

More radical steps include immersing the car in water, although not sea water, because chlorine gas could be released.

Does the fire risk mean electric cars are unsafe?

It all sounds quite alarming and a good reason not to buy an electric car, but Paul Christensen, professor of pure and applied electrochemistry at Newcastle University and senior advisor to the National Fire Chiefs Council, is keen to quell fears about EV fire safety, especially given the benefits the technology offers.

“As someone who assisted Nissan during the creation of its battery plant, I would, if I could afford one, have a Nissan Leaf tomorrow,” he says. “We don’t need to be worried about the small incidence of fires involving electric vehicles but we do need to be aware.

"A lithium ion battery stores a huge amount of energy in a very small space. Since 2008, the adoption of such batteries has outstripped our appreciation of their risks. We’re running to catch up, but we will do.”

As part of his campaign to improve EV fire risk awareness among first responders, Christensen has so far presented to 30 of the UK’s 50 fire services, as well as to fire services in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. 

He begins each talk by describing the structure of a lithium ion battery cell. A sliver of aluminium, called the cathode, is coated with a mixed-metal oxide ink. It’s partnered by a slice of copper coated with graphite called the anode. In between them is a fragile, perforated plastic separator soaked in an organic solvent that contains a small quantity of additives whose identity is, troublingly, known only to the cell manufacturer. Depending on whether the battery is being charged or discharged, the lithium ions move either from or to the cathode and anode. 

Then the professor gives his audience of firefighters their first shock. Full, a cell contains 4.2V of charge, but even when empty, it still holds 2.5V. A Nissan Leaf has from around 192 cells in 24 modules and a Tesla Model S more than 7000 in 16 modules. That’s a lot of energy when the car’s power indicator says it has none.

Full or ‘empty’, the risk of this energy escaping in an uncontrolled fashion is what some scientists believe leads to ‘thermal runaway’, when heat and gases fuel even higher temperatures and still more gases, including hydrogen and oxygen, in a self-fulfilling loop until the cells begin to burn and burst. A toxic vapour cloud develops, bringing with it the risk of deflagration. Once thermal runaway has started, no battery management system or circuit breaker can stop it. “A battery fire can be controlled but it cannot be extinguished,” says Christensen.

He has demonstrated in tests how perforating or otherwise damaging a battery pack, as in a crash, can cause it to catch fire. "If an EV’s battery case is dented, you have to assume it’s dangerous,” he says.

Battery packs have been known to catch fire through overheating and while being charged. More worrying, a battery fire can erupt spontaneously, contamination of even just a single cell during its manufacture being one possible explanation. “Even the most experienced and careful manufacturers have defective electric cells passing through their very careful quality control systems,” says Christensen. 

A battery flame is like a blowtorch that will quickly ignite anything in its path, which is why Christensen wants councils and other organisations to consider EV safety risks in underground car parks, as well as bus depots where vehicles are parked side by side. “In Germany, three bus depots have gone up in flames in the past six or so months,” he says. “Tunnels, ferries, car parks, cargo ships transporting EVs – all the places you find electric vehicles should be considered a safety risk and the appropriate steps taken.”

He’s worried about classic cars being converted to run on used lithium ion batteries, too. “Nobody really knows how safe used lithium ion batteries are and no standard test has yet been devised to tell us,” he says. “Some batteries re-enter the market having been removed in illegal chop shops. How safe are they? There’s a lot of research into lithium ion battery safety, but everyone needs to link up, because right now we’re at the bottom of a very steep learning curve.”