California sells more electric cars than any other state, many of which were reduced to rubble in Southern California during the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. And while lithium-ion batteries found in electric vehicles don’t often burst into flames, when they do, they produce fires that are extremely hot and require a lot of water to put out. When fires are extinguished, they will leave behind a lot of toxic waste that needs to be cleaned up. It’s a new headache, and it’s the irony of electric cars – the very things that are supposed to help the environment have been burned in a global warming forest fire, and the batteries are leaving behind more damage to the environment.
According to the S&P Global data he cites Bloombergthere were more than 431,000 Teslas in operation in the Los Angeles area as of October 2024. This does not include vehicles from other brands.
Electric vehicle fires can last tens of thousands of liters of water shut down, because the lithium-ion inside the batteries can generate oxygen when burning, which means that much more water is needed to cool the burning pack. Tesla publishes guides for fire departments that instruct them on how to put out fires from their vehicles. General Motors previously provided four-hour training sessions for first responders on how to stop stubborn fires that won’t go out.
Electric vehicles come with a lot of unique drawbacks to consider — they’re often very heavy, create problems for road infrastructure, for example, and charging large numbers of electric vehicles can strain the electricity industry. These are some of the reasons why some urban dwellers are completely against electric vehicles, arguing that people in cities should use public transport if they really want to support a green future. They come with contradictions.
Bloomberg talked to a firefighter about how previous fires in Maui gave them a blueprint for cleaning up batteries in Southern California:
San Diego Firefighter Robert Rezende, an expert on lithium battery hazards who will assist in cleanup efforts, said protocols developed during the 2023 Maui fires will be used in Los Angeles. But the scale of this event and danger is much greater.
“The state has seen other fires, but nothing this urban, with so many neighborhoods and buildings where you would expect more electric vehicles and other energy storage systems,” Rezende said. “We’re expecting a pretty big increase.”
In Maui, the Environmental Protection Agency sent more than 30 tons of lithium batteries from more than 1,400 properties for recycling.
Electric vehicle fires are very rarelywith the National Transportation Safety Board finding approximately 25 fires for every 100,000 electric vehicles sold.
Electric motors don’t generate much heat, so fires most often occur in serious accidents when the battery bursts and the sensitive chemicals and elements inside become unstable, releasing heat and then creating a self-sustaining cycle to heat up uncontrollably. Of course, high heat from an external source like a forest fire can also cause the battery to heat up.
Unfortunately, since electric vehicles have massive batteries, there will now be a lot of toxic waste to remove and try to recycle. The rain could cause toxic pollutants to reach the ocean if not cleaned up in time.
To be sure, countless studies show that the life-cycle emissions of electric vehicles will be 70% lower than petrol or dieseleven taking mineral extraction or filling into account. Unless you’re on the more extreme end of the spectrum and think cars should be eliminated entirely, EVs are still probably better than gas alternatives.