Electric cars going up in flames is a trend. One Tesla's lithium-ion battery caught on fire recently in Scottsdale, Arizona. Twice.
"Witnesses at the scene tell ABC15 a teen girl was attempting to park the vehicle, and then it went forward, hitting the building. M.D. Clark, battalion chief with Scottsdale Fire, says while the Tesla was on a tow truck it sparked and caused another fire. The vehicle had to be let off of the tow truck in the middle of the street to keep the fire from spreading further. Scottsdale fire officials say electric car fires take longer to put out than traditional car fires. They require multiple agencies and hazmat crews because of the potential hazards to the community. Several businesses were evacuated as a precaution."
According to Tesla Fire, which tracks incendiary events on spreadsheets, from 2013 to 2023, there have been 182 fires with 53 fatalities, some from accidents and others from spontaneous combustion. The database includes the date of the fire, model of car, year, country, state, if there were fatalities, a description of the event, and the source of the information.
Where is a burned-out electric car reborn? What rises from the ashes – other than possible toxic fumes? The ghost of apartheid rocket-boy? Maybe the electric cars are being raptured into white heaven? Who is killing these electric cars? Perhaps the cars are fired-up about the downwardly careening share values of Twitter or the appearance that "Mr. Tweet" is a union-busting eugenicist who is "sort of worried that…if we don't make enough people to at least sustain our numbers, perhaps increase a bit, then civilization is going to crumble." It is unclear who the "we" is in this malodorous opinion. This quote is in response to an interview question from "the replacement theorist" about procreation. That fryer Tuck does not hide his views that white European people need to procreate at higher rates the "we" takes on an ominously torched tone.
It turns out that EV fires are a global problem. Yet, it is unclear if anti-inflammatory collaboration is in the works. While "lithium-ion battery fires are a worldwide fire service problem, with researchers around the globe tackling the issue," sharing that research is the event horizon challenge. For more on recent research exploring how to best respond to a lithium-ion battery fire, check out this article by Chief Robert R. Rielage, the former Ohio fire marshal, and CFO and EFO of the Institution for Fire Engineers (FIFireE), "EV fires: A global problem that demands a collaborative solution."
Inside EV reports on data released by Tesla, "According to the company, during the 2012-2021 period, there was roughly one Tesla vehicle fire for every 210 million miles traveled (compared to 205 million miles in 2012-2020 period). According to the NFPA, the national average for vehicle fires remains at the same level of one fire per 19 million miles traveled. The difference between Tesla and the average is 11:1, which is a big win not only for Tesla, but in general, for electric cars."
To be fair, in comparing fires in electric vehicles to the combustion engine – combustion is a synonym for fire, Autoweek reports, "Researchers from insurance deal site Auto Insurance EZ compiled sales and accident data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the National Transportation Safety Board. The site found that hybrid vehicles had the most fires per 100,000 sales at 3474.5. There were 1529.9 fires per 100k for gas vehicles and just 25.1 fires per 100k sales for electric vehicles."
