Stubborn fires. Are electric cars safe?

Last week, a new fire broke out in a 2019 Chevrolet Bolt electric car owned by a senator from Vermont, as well as another fire in a Tesla Model S Plaid in a Philadelphia suburb, which reportedly “spontaneously ignited.”

The Chevy Bolt fire is receiving the most attention as it occurred after General Motors issued a worldwide fire risk recall, and it also occurs following several Bolt car fires.

General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will send teams to investigate the blaze next week, according to car owner Sen. Timothy Briglin.

Briglin said the fire occurred even though he received a software update that was supposed to fix the battery fire issue, according to Forbes, and Al Arabiya.net has reviewed it.

Despite the fire, he said, “I don’t think there is any doubt that electric vehicles are the cars of the future. They are easier to drive, cheaper, better for the climate and the climate. battery problem will be solved. “

For its part, GM issued a statement saying, “Fortunately, there were no injuries as a result of this accident. We have contacted the customer and are actively investigating the accident and are gathering additional information to understand the consequences. specific circumstances. “

The focus on electric car fires comes despite the fact that car fires are generally old-fashioned, as it’s not clear why electric cars burn and why fires are often difficult to put out.

Which begs the question of the frequency of electric car fires compared to internal combustion cars in their traditional forms.

Tesla provided the answer to this question using the data it collected, noting that from 2012 to 2020, there was about one Tesla car fire for every 205 million kilometers driven. By comparison, data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the United States shows that there is one car fire in the United States for every 19 million kilometers traveled by conventional cars.

For his part, the executive director of the Center for Automotive Safety in Washington, Jason K. Levine: “To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive data source” that can compare fires in electric vehicles with combustion vehicles.

The other problem with electric cars is the amount of water needed to put out the fire, as it uses around 30,000 gallons of water versus 300 gallons of water for conventional cars, which means 100 times the volume of water. consumed to turn it off, and the reason is due to the need to cool the car battery in the first place.