House lawmakers say more research needed to understand EV battery fire risks

WASHINGTON — A U.S. House panel said more research and data are needed to assess the risks of electric vehicle fires and the challenges they pose to first responders.

At a hearing Thursday, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight examined the novel difficulties and dangers of EV fires amid a growing market for lithium ion battery-powered vehicles in the U.S. and concerns that first responders are not prepared to handle them.

"Over many decades, we've developed best practices to extinguish internal combustion engine fires as safely and quickly as possible. Now, we need to give that level of attention and support to research into electric vehicles, and specifically into the lithium ion batteries that power them," Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said in an opening statement.

Lofgren cited a 2020 report from the National Transportation Safety Board that found U.S. fire departments were ill-equipped to handle EV battery fires. The report also found inadequacies in the guidance automakers provide to emergency personnel responding to the fires.

"In the years since that report was published, EV sales have ballooned, from 300,000 in 2020 to 1.3 million in 2023," she said. "However, the data available on EV fires hasn't increased proportionally. Fire departments across the country — many staffed by volunteers — lack the resources to track the EV fires they extinguish."

Battery fires have become a growing concern for the auto industry, safety advocates and federal regulators as automakers aim to electrify more of their portfolios and move those vehicles into the mainstream.

While it is unclear how prevalent EV fires are in the U.S., "given the gaps in reporting structures," their occurrence is expected to become more prominent as the market grows, according to a House memo.

"We need to ensure that we are enacting legislation that the manufacturers of these electric vehicles prevent fires from happening," Dan Munsey, fire chief at the San Bernardino County Fire Department in California, told lawmakers at the hearing.

"We need to make sure that we have access to funds to properly equip and train and buy the tools and equipment that are needed to suppress these fires without putting our communities in danger."

Judy Jeevarajan, executive director of the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute at UL Research Institutes in Houston, said one concern for first responders is determining the presence and location of "stranded energy," which is the energy that remains in the cells of a damaged battery pack that could trigger the reignition of a fire or electric shock.

Another concern, she said, is simply the ability of first responders to identify the vehicle as an EV, so they can act accordingly.

In the U.S., there are no regulations or standardized methods for determining whether a vehicle is an internal combustion engine, plug-in hybrid or fully electric, she explained. But a standard followed in Europe for passenger cars requires a symbol or QR code that identifies the vehicle and provides useful information to support rescue teams.

"These provide information to the first responder and firefighter on the type of vehicle, battery and methods to tackle the catastrophic incident in a safe manner," she said in her written testimony. "Standardizing such practices would provide better guidance to the firefighters and first responders in the U.S., too."

Lawmakers at the hearing said more research and data will be needed to develop proper guidelines, training protocols and technologies to address battery fires and protect the public.

"More research is necessary to make sure that we're making informed decisions around dealing with this problem," said Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., who chairs the subcommittee. "And it's clear more resources and more training are going to be necessary to keep our firefighters and first responders safe."