"When electric cars get in accidents, they explode, they catch fire very very badly because of the lithium batteries.”
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A Black Tesla is seen in Greenwich, Connecticut. (AP)
Batteries don’t make electric vehicles more likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered cars
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Tesla, which makes more than half of the electric vehicles sold in the U.S., reports five car fires per billion miles driven, compared with 55 fires per billion miles driven in gasoline-powered cars.
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Electric vehicles are not more likely than gas-powered cars to catch fire in crashes.
- Electric vehicles don’t use lithium batteries, but the much safer lithium-ion batteries.
An Instagram video uses fearmongering and unrelated footage to inaccurately describe what happens to electric vehicles when they get into crashes.
"When electric cars get in accidents, they explode, they catch fire very, very badly because of the lithium batteries," says a man in the video, which was posted Oct. 20 on Instagram.
The man says "you can do experiments yourself, just get a lithium battery and unwrap it and throw it into a bowl and see what happens." A narrator then does just that, but with a double-A lithium battery, not an electric vehicle battery.
The Instagram post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Electric vehicles are overall less likely than gas-powered cars to combust or explode after a collision, according to data and experts.
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There are more gas-powered cars on the road than EVs, so a good way to analyze their relative safety is fires per distance driven. Tesla, which makes more than half of the electric vehicles sold in the U.S., reports five car fires per billion miles driven, compared with 55 fires per billion miles driven in gas-powered cars.
"An electric car can get into an accident without any explosion or fire, like gasoline cars," said Ahmad Pesaran, chief energy storage engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in an email interview with PolitiFact.
"An accident has to be very severe to compromise the battery pack in a way to rupture the cells and create an internal short which may lead to a fire," Pesaran said. "Because of the construction of the battery pack and the strong enclosure around it, this is very rare."
As for the video showing the deconstruction of a double-A lithium battery, Pesaran notes that EVs don’t use lithium batteries, but the much safer lithium-ion batteries. He said the potential for danger isn’t as severe as the video implies.
It’s also important to consider the relative risk of electric vehicles compared with gas-powered vehicles, Pesaran said.
"There are more than 200,000 fires in gasoline vehicles each year in the U.S., but for some reason, they are not put under the magnifying glass with inaccurate information like those for electric vehicles," he said.
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That said, some specific models of electric cars have had fire risks. In 2021, General Motors Co. recalled the Chevrolet Bolt because of a risk of its battery pack catching fire.
Our ruling
An Instagram post says, "When electric cars get in accidents, they explode, they catch fire very very badly because of the lithium batteries."
Electric vehicles are not more likely than gas-powered cars to catch fire in crashes.
Tesla, which makes more than half of the electric vehicles sold in the U.S., reports five car fires per billion miles driven, compared with 55 fires per billion miles driven in gas-powered cars.
We rate this claim False.
RELATED: Electric vehicle fires can be extinguished with water
Our Sources
Email interview with Chief Energy Storage Engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Ahmad Pesaran, Oct. 21, 2022
Jimmy Patronis, Tweet, Oct. 21, 2022
MyFloridaCFO.com, press release, "CFO Jimmy Patronis: EV manufacturers must step up to reduce risks of battery fires," Oct. 17, 2022
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Response letter to Mr. Patronis," Oct. 14, 2022
PoliFact, "Electric vehicle fires can be extinguished with water," July 29, 202
Tesla, "2020 Impact Report," accessed Oct. 21, 2022
CNN, "Are electric cars more likely to catch fire?" May 17, 2018
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Consumer alert: GM expands recall, All Chevrolet Bolt vehicles now recalled," Aug. 20, 2021
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Batteries don’t make electric vehicles more likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered cars
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