ICE fires vs. Tesla fires - Time for a True Comparison...

[Canuck]

In my business I see a lot of different fire related claims. I was just looking at a fire involving a dryer outlet (not electric car related at all) and it got me thinking. It's not fair to only compare ICE fires to EV fires because we are missing a key factor, which will make the per capita fires even lower for EV fires compared to ICE fires. We know that both forms of high energy supply (electricity and gas) have inherent fire risks. If we are going to attribute fires in garages or house wiring to electrical cars, then, to be fair, we also need to be looking at gas station fires, if we want to do a true comparison in order to assess risk. So I did just that and here are the statistics:

Facts & figures

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  [*=left]An estimated 5,020 fires and explosions occurred at public service stations per year from 2004-2008. That means that, on average, one in every 13 service stations experienced a fire. These 7,400 fires caused an annual average of two civilian deaths, 48 civilian injuries and $20 million in property damage. Service station safety
  

Can you imagine what would be said about Tesla vehicles if "one in every 13" homes where these cars are being "refuelled" experienced a fire, killed 2 people and injured 48 people PER YEAR! We all know Big oil and the press would be all over that one! Yes, I know there are many more gas stations than home charging stations but the per capita rate of Tesla house fires is still significantly lower.

It would be good if the press actually does their job the next time there is a Tesla related garage fire, because there will be, and mention these stats when reporting on it (but I'm not holding my breath).

Finally, to the person who said he reconsidered buying a Tesla in the thread about the recent Toronto garage fire (cause still undetermined), I wonder if he thinks twice about refuelling at a gas station given the stats above... just sayin'

 

[Mayhemm]

It would be good if the press actually does their job the next time there is a Tesla related garage fire, because there will be, and mention these stats when reporting on it (but I'm not holding my breath).

Unfortunately, this would require the media to have some integrity and a genuine interest in the truth, rather than simply pushing a given agenda or sensationalized bias. As you say, don't hold your breath.

 

[NVR]

I see one problem with your analysis, which is that 5,020 of those fires are the vehicles themselves, and so are already included in fires with ICE vehicles. That leaves only 2380 that are not included and there is no breakdown of how many of those are related to the fuel systems or are simply fires that arose from some other means. If we use the 12% in the stats, then we find that 2094 might have been caused by the fuel. Unfortunately, that 12% is simply "outisde trash or rubbish fires," and thus we cannot use it to say that the remaining 88% were fuel fires as they may have been something else entirely. The other thing that is odd is the way the stats are presented. It says that first dropped 70% between 1980 and 2008 and then gives the average for 2004-2008. It's an odd way to provide the stat and the wording is odd as well. Whatever the case, it really doesn't add much to the discussion as far as I can see.