How flammable are electric vehicles really?
Every time an electric vehicle catches fire, it draws attention from online newspapers and social media. But are electric vehicles particularly flammable?
21.10.2026 14:03 | Updated 14:04
The Electric Vehicle Association’s member service receives a steady stream of inquiries from both new and more experienced electric vehicle owners with questions about everything related to electric vehicles.
A large number of the questions we receive concern charging.
Therefore, in this column our charging expert Lars Godbolt answers questions many people have. Read previous questions he has answered here:
Today’s question:
Is it true or false that electric vehicles represent a fire hazard in society?
Charging-Lars’ answer:
First, it’s important to note that electric vehicles catch fire much less frequently than one might think:
Although the number of electric vehicle fires has increased as more vehicles hit the roads, the fire risk per vehicle remains significantly lower than that of gasoline and diesel cars.
In 2025, there were 6.8 fires per 100,000 electric vehicles, compared to 52.2 fires per 100,000 gasoline and diesel vehicles. This represents a fire rate that was nearly eight times higher for fossil fuel vehicles.
For clarity: Here we include statistics on fires that started in vehicles as well as fires in buildings where the fire department believes a vehicle was the source.
Even though the electric vehicle fleet has grown to over a million vehicles, we have not seen an increase in fire incidents involving them. It’s also worth noting that the majority of electric vehicles are newer than the existing fossil fuel vehicle fleet.
The battery pack in an electric vehicle is well protected against fire, so if a damaged charging cable, for example, catches fire, the flames rarely spread to the battery.
A battery fire typically occurs when a battery cell short-circuits and becomes overcharged. When this spreads from one cell to several in a row, it is called “thermal runaway” (from the English term “thermal runway”).
The vehicle’s battery management system (BMS) monitors the condition of the cells to prevent this from happening.
When the media reports on vehicles being recalled due to fire hazards, it may refer to defects in the production of the battery cells or issues discovered with how the system monitors them.
In any case, fires in electric vehicles are extremely rare.
As Rune Wiggo Johnsen, head of emergency services in Trøndelag, said in the article below:
– Ten years ago, I was very worried about whether we would be able to handle all the new and demanding electric vehicle fires that were coming. It was completely unnecessary. Things didn’t get more dangerous; we became safer!
More like this?
Sign up for our newsletter
– get electric vehicle news straight to your inbox!
Also read
The post How flammable are electric vehicles really? appeared first on Norsk elbilforening.