Do electric cars catch fire more than petrol cars?
Plug-in electric cars catch fire less often per vehicle than petrol or diesel cars, but EV battery fires are treated as a distinct hazard.
Covers: This page compares the frequency and causes of vehicle fires in electric vehicles versus petrol and diesel vehicles, drawing on fire statistics, safety studies and manufacturer data. It does not cover fire risk from e-bikes, home charging installations or other non-car electric vehicles.
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The short answer
Evidence-backed AI-prepared starting mapAvailable figures indicate that fires involving plug-in electric vehicles are significantly less frequent per vehicle than fires involving petrol or diesel (internal combustion engine) cars, even though the absolute number of EV fires has risen as more EVs are sold. EV fires are nonetheless treated as a distinct hazard because the traction battery stores a large amount of energy and commonly uses lithium-ion chemistry that can undergo thermal runaway, particularly if the battery is poorly manufactured or damaged.1
- Evidence 12
- Interpretation 5
In brief
On a per-vehicle basis, plug-in electric cars are reported to catch fire significantly less often than petrol or diesel cars, even though the total number of EV fires has risen with EV sales.1
Evidence-backedEV fires are treated as a distinct hazard because traction batteries store large amounts of energy and lithium-ion chemistry can undergo thermal runaway, especially after poor manufacturing or damage.1
Evidence-backedReal-world EV crash fires have involved high impact speeds, multiple crashes per incident, multiple barrier types, and post-crash risks to occupants and rescue teams.2
Evidence-backedInternational standards test lithium-ion vehicle batteries under mechanical, electrical, environmental and chemical abuse, and reviewers still identify gaps and areas for improvement.3
Evidence-backed
At a glance
What this page stands on
Live · updated just now
The evidence behind it
3 sources- Reviews of many studies1
- Other studies and data1
- Background1
Published in 2017 and 2021
| Source | Kind | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Lessons from the Electric Vehicle Crashworthiness Leading to Battery Fire | Other studies and data | 2021 |
| A review of international abuse testing standards and regulations for lithium ion batteries in electric and hybrid electric vehicles | Reviews of many studies | 2017 |
| Plug-in electric vehicle fire (Wikipedia) | Background | Unknown |
The community around it
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What it means for you
Which fits you?
Pick the situation closest to yours. Each answer says what it rests on.
If you want a quick answer on relative fire risk
the available evidence points to EV fires being significantly less frequent per vehicle than petrol or diesel car fires.1
Evidence-backedIf you are weighing an EV purchase and care about fire safety
treat frequency and consequence as separate questions: the per-vehicle frequency favours EVs, while battery thermal runaway and crash-fire challenges are the specific risks to understand.12
InterpretationIf you are interested in how EV battery safety is regulated
international standards cover mechanical, electrical, environmental and chemical abuse testing of lithium-ion vehicle batteries, and reviewers still identify gaps for future improvement.3
Evidence-backedIf you are a first responder or safety planner
the crash-fire literature highlights high impact speeds, multi-crash incidents, multiple barrier types, and post-crash risks to occupants and rescue teams as the situations to prepare for.2
Evidence-backedThe full story · 3 chapters
01
What the numbers show
AI summary:EV fire counts rise with EV sales, but per vehicle, EV fires are reported as significantly less frequent than combustion-engine car fires.
Evidence-backed: The number of vehicle fires involving plug-in electric vehicles has grown alongside EV production and adoption, which is expected as the fleet grows. On a per-vehicle basis, however, EV fires are reported to be significantly less frequent than fires in cars with internal combustion engines.1
Interpretation: The comparison is usually framed around fire frequency per vehicle rather than total fire counts, because a rising EV population mechanically produces more EV fire incidents even if the underlying risk per car is low.1
How do you think the fire risk of electric cars compares with petrol or diesel cars?
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02
Why EV fires are treated as a different problem
AI summary:Traction batteries store much energy and use lithium-ion chemistry prone to thermal runaway, and reviews flag crash and testing gaps.
Evidence-backed: EV fires pose a specific risk because traction batteries hold a large amount of energy and commonly use lithium-ion chemistry, which can sometimes be susceptible to thermal runaway, especially if the battery is manufactured poorly or damaged.1
Evidence-backed: A review of real-world EV fire incidents in road crashes identified recurring challenges: high impact speeds, multiple crashes within a single incident, multiple barrier types involved, and post-crash safety risks for occupants and rescue teams. The review's stated aim is to close the gap between current safety requirements and what happens in real crashes, and to support work on battery materials, fire extinguishing and vehicle body structure.2
Evidence-backed: A separate review of international abuse-testing standards and regulations for lithium-ion batteries in electric and hybrid vehicles covers mechanical, electrical, environmental and chemical-hazard tests, and identifies shortcomings and areas for future improvement. This tells readers what is tested and regulated, not how often fires occur in the field.3
03
How to read the comparison
AI summary:The lower-frequency finding does not describe severity or how hard an EV fire is to extinguish once it starts.
Interpretation: The headline comparison — EV fires less frequent per vehicle than combustion-engine car fires — is a useful starting point, but it does not by itself describe severity, difficulty of extinguishing, or the consequences of a fire once it starts. The crash-fire review and the standards review address those dimensions rather than frequency.123
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- 1Plug-in electric vehicle fire (Wikipedia)WikipediaPublished Sep 30, 2026Checked Sep 30, 2026
“The number of vehicle fires involving plug-in electric vehicles has increased alongside the increase in production and adoption of consumer electric vehicles (EVs). EV fires pose a specific risk because their traction batteries hold a large amount of energy, and commonly use lithium-ion battery chemistry which can sometimes be susceptible to thermal runaway, especially if the battery is manufactured poorly, or damaged. EV fires are significantly less frequent per-vehicle than fires involving cars with internal combustion engines.”
- 2Lessons from the Electric Vehicle Crashworthiness Leading to Battery FireEnergies (Chombo et al.)Published Aug 6, 2021Checked Sep 30, 2026
“This paper focuses on reviewing the safety requirements of EVs, especially those powered by Li-ion battery, based on the mechanical abuse tests from the international standards, national standards, regulations and other laboratories standards, and safety of occupants from the regulations and safety programs. Moreover, the publicly reported real-world fire incidents of EVs based on road crashes were collected and reviewed. The objective is to highlight the gap and challenges arose between the current safety requirements and real-world fire incidents of EVs and provide the way for assisting the future research in the area of EV safety, particularly light duty passenger vehicle. The serious challenges observed include high impact speed, multi-crashes per incident, multiple barriers of different types involved in the accident, and post-crash safety (serious injury and demise) of occupants and rescue teams. While addressing these challenges, this review will aid researchers and manufacturers working in batteries, EVs, and fire safety engineering to narrow the gap and enhance the safety of future EVs in areas of battery materials, fire extinguishing, and vehicle’s body structure.”
- 3A review of international abuse testing standards and regulations for lithium ion batteries in electric and hybrid electric vehiclesRenewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (Ruiz et al.)Published Jul 15, 2017Checked Sep 30, 2026
“Lithium ion batteries are a proven technology for automotive applications and their continued use in the future electric vehicle fleet is undeniable. In addition to battery performance and durability, battery safety is paramount to ensure confidence and widespread adoption of electromobility in our society. This comprehensive review aims at presenting the various international standards and regulations for safety testing of lithium ion batteries in automotive applications under various abusive environments. Safety tests are presented and analysed including mechanical, electrical, environmental and hazards of chemical nature. The intention of this review is compiling the most relevant standards and regulations to identify shortcomings and areas for future improvement.”
How it changed
Published 1 time since Sep 30, 2026.
- Version 2Sep 30, 2026Live now
AI-prepared Starting Map from live research.
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Open questions
How does the per-vehicle fire rate compare between EVs and petrol or diesel cars in specific countries or fleets, and how has it changed as the EV fleet has aged?
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What share of EV fires is linked to crashes, manufacturing defects, charging, or other causes, and how does that compare with combustion-engine car fires?
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Once a fire starts, how do EV and petrol or diesel car fires compare on spread, extinguishing time and injury outcomes?
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