No. EVs have a better fire safety record than gas cars. Under all circumstances, EV fires are less likely than fires in gas vehicles. Comprehensive studies in Australia and Sweden show that a gas car is at least 20 times more likely to catch fire than an EV.
EV fires get a lot of press, even though gas car fires are much more common. Part of the increased media coverage about battery fires in EVs may be due to the novelty of electric cars, and part of it is because battery fires behave differently than gas fires. The National Fire Protection Association offers online and in-person training on extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires for firefighters and recently added a Department of Energy-funded EV fire simulator available to firefighters.
In addition, new EV battery chemistries that are gaining in popularity–including Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries currently available in some Ford and Tesla models–are even less likely to catch fire. This means that in the future, EV batteries will be even safer than they are now and will continue to prevent the deaths and injuries from more common gas vehicle fires.
