Since at least 2010, fires and thermal incidents have been reported in cars, buses, boats, and other electric vehicles. This is a list of fires in electric vehicles attributed directly to a fault or failure in the main traction battery cause by a manufacturing or maintenance defect (excluding crashes, intentional damage, and other external causes.) None of the following lists are, or ever will be, comprehensive lists of all fires related to that vehicle or brand, and some lists will be longer purely because they receive more attention than others. __TOC__
A Future EV About 6 a.m. on 17 November 2010, a fire broke out on the vehicle deck of the MS Pearl of Scandinavia on its way from Oslo to Copenhagen. The ferry's fire sprinkler system put out the fire before any of the crew or the 490 sleeping passengers were injured and the ship could dock in Copenhagen under its own power. It was determined that the cause of the fire was a short circuit in the plug of an extension cord used to charge a rebuilt Nissan Qashqai, converted into a battery electric vehicle by the Sakskøbing based company A Future EV. The company owner was returning from Norway where the vehicle had started the approval process for general sale there, and had used an extension cord to charge the vehicle from a general purpose power outlet on the ferry. The ferry operator DFDS Seaways consequently prohibited vehicle charging on board its ferries while the investors withdrew their support for the vehicle company forcing it into bankruptcy.
Zotye M300 EV A Zotye M300 EV operating as a taxicab caught fire in Hangzhou, China, in April 2011. No one was injured as the driver and two passengers evacuated the electric car in time. Due to the incident, the city authorities decided to halt all electric taxis on safety concerns, 15 of which were M300 EVs out of a fleet of 30 electric taxis. The city's official investigation team found the cause of the fire was the car's defective battery pack due to lack of quality control during manufacturing. According to the investigation report, the battery pack problems include: leaking of battery cells; damage of the insulation between battery cells and the walls of the aluminum container in which the cells were stacked; short circuits occurred within certain containers and those involving supporting and connecting parts. One of the stronger short circuits ignited the car's back seats. The lead investigators said that "...in sealing and packing the battery cells, in loading and unloading the battery stacks, insufficient attention had been paid to several safety factors; monitoring procedures had been inefficient or neglected in the process of manufacturing, battery charging/switching, and vehicle driving, failing to detect anomalies." The report added that the battery cells on the car were made by Zhejiang Wanxiang Group.
Chevrolet Bolt As of August 2021, Electrek had compiled a list of 18 battery-related Chevrolet Bolt fires, and one possible-battery related fire. The frequent fires resulted in a recall of about 110,000 Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV EVs from the 2017 through 2022 model years.
Even after the recall, several fires occurred in vehicles that had received the new software and been checked by a dealer — including one in a vehicle owned by a Vermont state lawmaker. Another fire happened in New Jersey, the company told CNBC. GM says it's still investigating the fires, and is asking owners who haven't gotten the fix to take their Bolts in to a dealer regardless. At least nine fires have been documented, and the company has started buying back some Bolts. Moreover, the company recommended that Bolt owners park their cars outside and at least 50 feet away from other vehicles.
On September 13, 2021, a Chevrolet Bolt caught fire in a private garage in Cherokee County, Georgia, US. The owner had either been unaware or simply ignored the recommendation to park outside.
Chevrolet Volt As a result of a crash-tested Chevrolet Volt that caught fire in June 2011 three weeks after the testing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a statement saying that the agency does not believe the Volt or other electric vehicles are at a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles. They added: "In fact, all vehicles –both electric and gasoline-powered – have some risk of fire in the event of a serious crash." The NHTSA announced in November 2011 that it was working with all automakers to develop post-crash procedures to keep occupants of electric vehicles and emergency personnel who respond to crash scenes safe.
In further testing of the Volt's batteries carried out by NHTSA in November 2011, two of the three tests resulted in thermal events, including fire. Therefore, the NHTSA opened a formal safety defect investigation on November 25, 2011, to examine the potential risks involved from intrusion damage to the battery in the Chevrolet Volt.
On January 5, 2012, General Motors announced that it would offer a customer satisfaction program to provide modifications to the Chevrolet Volt to reduce the chance that the battery pack could catch fire days or weeks after a severe accident. General Motors explained the modifications will enhance the vehicle structure that surround the battery and the battery coolant system to improve battery protection after a severe crash. The safety enhancements consist of strengthening an existing portion of the Volt's vehicle safety structure to further protect the battery pack in a severe side collision; add a sensor in the reservoir of the battery coolant system to monitor coolant levels; and add a tamper-resistant bracket to the top of the battery coolant reservoir to help prevent potential coolant overfill. On January 20, 2012, the NHTSA closed the Volt's safety defect investigation related to post-crash fire risk. The agency concluded that "no discernible defect trend exists" and also found that the modifications recently developed by General Motors are sufficient to reduce the potential for battery intrusion resulting from side impacts. The NHTSA also said that "based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles." The agency also announced it has developed interim guidance to increase awareness and identify appropriate safety measures regarding electric vehicles for the emergency response community, law enforcement officers, tow truck operators, storage facilities and consumers.
Fisker Karma
In December 2011, Fisker Automotive recalled the first 239 Karmas delivered to the U.S. due to a risk of battery fire caused by coolant leak. Of the 239 cars, less than fifty had been delivered to customers, the rest were in dealerships. In the report filed by Fisker Automotive with the NHTSA, the carmaker said some hose clamps were not properly positioned, which could allow a coolant leak and an electrical short could possibly occur if coolant enters the battery compartment, causing a thermal event within the battery, including a possible fire. In May 2012 a Fisker Karma was involved in a home fire that also burnt two other cars in Fort Bend County, Texas. The chief fire investigator said the Karma was the origin of the fire that spread to the house, but the exact cause is still unknown. The plug-in hybrid electric car was not plugged in at the time the fire started and it was reported that the Karma's battery was intact. The carmaker release a public statement saying that "...there are conflicting reports and uncertainty surrounding this particular incident. The cause of the fire is not yet known and is being investigated." Fisker Automotive also stated that the battery pack "does not appear to have been a contributing factor in this incident." The NHTSA is conducting a field inquiry of the incident, and is working with insurance adjusters and Fisker to determine the fire's cause.
A second fire incident took place in August 2012 when a Karma caught fire while stopped at a parking lot in Woodside, California. According to Fisker engineers, the area of origin for the fire was determined to be outside the engine compartment, as the fire was located at the driver's side front corner of the car. The evidence suggested that the ignition source was not the lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components or unique exhaust routing. The investigation conducted by Fisker engineers and an independent fire expert concluded that the cause of the fire was a low temperature cooling fan located at the left front of the Karma, forward of the wheel. An internal fault caused the fan to fail, overheat and started a slow-burning fire. Fisker announced a voluntary recall on all Karmas sold to replace the faulty fan and install an additional fuse.
BYD e6
In May 2012, after a Nissan GT-R crashed into a BYD e6 taxi in Shenzhen, China, the electric car caught fire after hitting a tree killing all three occupants. The Chinese investigative team concluded that the cause of the fire was that "electric arcs caused by the short-circuiting of high voltage lines of the high voltage distribution box ignited combustible material in the vehicle including the interior materials and part of the power batteries." The team also noted that the battery pack did not explode; 75% of the single cell batteries did not catch fire; and no flaws in the safety design of the vehicle were identified.
On December 29, 2020, a BYD e6 taxi caught fire at an intersection in Luohu District, Shenzhen, China.
BYD Han EV In July 2021, Dongchedi (), a ByteDance's automotive media in China, performed a crash test of BYD Han EV versus Arcfox Alpha-S. Having been parked for 48 hours after the test, only the Han EV caught fire and burned to the ground.
On June 15, 2022, a BYD Han EV caught fire on a road in Xaysetha district, Vientiane, Laos.
BYD Tang On November 15, 2021, a BYD Tang EV caught fire in a workshop in Kristiansand, Norway.
On January 26, 2022, a BYD Tang DM-i (plug-in hybrid) caught fire on a flatbed tow truck, on a road in mainland China. By the such kind of transporting, it seems to be a malfunctioning car.
BYD Qin On May 28, 2020, a BYD Qin Pro EV caught fire at a charging station in Shenzhen, China.
On October 28, 2020, a BYD Qin Pro EV caught fire after charging completed in Yantai, Shandong province, China.
On November 22, 2021, a BYD Qin Pro EV caught fire in an underground parking lot in Beijing, China.
On February 13, 2022, a BYD Qin Plus DM-i (plug-in hybrid) caught fire on a road in Zhongshan city, Guangdong province, China.
BYD Atto 3 On September 3, 2023, a BYD Atto 3 suffered smoke and heat damage to the engine compartment when charging at a charging station in Mueang Udon Thani district, Udon Thani, Thailand. Investigation showed that the damage was caused by a wire attached to the 12 V lead–acid battery, not the vehicle's main EV battery pack.
In the morning of October 1, 2025, a car transporter truck and nine of brand new BYD Atto 3 cars on it caught fire on the M5 motorway in Devon, South West England, resulting in the temporary closure of the motorway between junctions 28 and junction 29.
BYD Seal In the early morning of April 19, 2025, a BYD Seal caught fire in Bang Khun Si subdistrict, Bangkok Noi District, Bangkok. From the initial inspection, there was severe burn damage in the front part, such as the front hood, headlights and front bumper.
Dodge Ram 1500 Plug-in Hybrid