Zac Quinn 
Battery fires are no joke, as the chemicals can spark a new fire after one has already been put out. But more than that, an electric vehicle fire can burn at a heat of an incredible 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, more than twice that of lava, and hot enough to melt titanium. Before the Electric Vehicle revolution, firefighters had the means and the training to put out a gas-powered blaze, becoming quite efficient at doing so and ensuring that whoever gets caught inside is rescued promptly. But, switching to electric cars has posed a new challenge for fire departments.
Electric Vehicle Fire Issue: Details
According to Jalopnik, lawmakers in the United States have called for more research into the threat of EV fires and the dangers they pose to drivers across the country. This includes working to give firefighters better training and equipment to deal with the issue. Adding to this problem, automakers don’t provide much guidance on how emergency personnel should respond to EV fires, based on a report from the National Transportation Safety Board in 2020.
In the years since the study, EV sales have skyrocketed, and now millions of such vehicles are on the roads and near people’s homes. Despite this balloon in EV sales, the data and information surrounding EV fires have mostly stayed the same, and fire departments across the country need to be equipped to track the EV fires they extinguish.
As a result, fire departments across the country have called on stronger legislation to ensure automakers make their EVs as safe as possible so that spontaneous combustion doesn’t become increasingly common as more of these vehicles become a part of daily life within the country. On top of that, there has been a call for better funding for departments so that they can be better prepared to fight these blazes when they do occur. This seems like something people should have thought about prior to pushing for the rapid expansion of electric vehicle adoption across the country.
