Lately, concerns regarding fires in electric vehicles in enclosed spaces such as in road tunnels and parking garages have been raised and there are indications that parking of electric vehicles may be prohibited in some spaces. For the success of electromobility and the transition from fossil to renewable fuels, it is important to understand the risks and consequences of fires in electric vehicles and to provide technical solutions if necessary, so as not to hinder the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.

In this work, a literature review on fires in vehicles has been conducted. The focus was on fires in enclosed spaces involving electric vehicles. A comprehensive risk assessment of electric vehicle fires was performed using systematic hazard identification. In addition, a workshop with representatives from three Swedish fire and rescue services was carried out to evaluate the emergency rescue sheets/response guides.

The main conclusions are; That statistics regarding vehicle fires need to be improved, as of today the root causes of fires are missing in the data, which could potentially result in non-fact based regulations; The data studied in this work does not imply that fires in electric vehicles are more common than fires in internal combustion engine vehicles; Fires in electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles are similar in regards to the fire intensity and peak heat release rates. 

The most effective risk reductions measures on vehicle level, to decrease the number of fires in EVs, could not be defined based on that relevant data on the root causes of fires in EVs are currently not publicly accessible. The most effective risk reduction measures, to limit fire spread, on infrastructure level were the use of fire sprinkler systems, fire detection systems (early detection) and increased distance between parked vehicles.