autoinsuranceez.com said in 2022:
Hybrid vehicles actually come in number one with the most fires per 100K sales. Gas vehicles are second, and electric vehicles place third.
howtogeek.com
Overall, EVs were about 0.3% likely to catch fire, while gas cars were 1.05% likely to ignite.Jun 17, 2022
MSNBC website:
Electric vehicle fires are rare, but hard to fight — here’s why
PUBLISHED SAT, JAN 29 2022
....
However, when fires do occur, electric vehicles with lithium ion batteries burn hotter, faster and require far more water to reach final extinguishment, Sutcliffe says. And the batteries can re-ignite hours or even days after the fire is initially controlled, leaving salvage yards, repair shops and others at risk.
Chas McGarvey, the Chief Fire Officer of Pennsylvania’s Lower Merion Fire Department, told CNBC that one Tesla Model S Plaid fire his department handled in 2021 burned so hot that it melted the roadway beneath it.
Sutcliffe told CNBC, “A lot of the time fire fighters and fire agencies are just expected to kind of figure it out.” With so many new models hitting the road, McGarvey the fire chief in Pennsylvania said, “We’re still trying to catch up with all this stuff. But it changes almost every day!”
The Director of Maryland’s Energy Institute, Eric Wachsman, says that the qualities that make lithium ion battery cells powerful enough to move a passenger vehicle can also make them vulnerable to igniting— especially if battery cells within them are damaged or defective.
Lithium ion battery cells have electrodes placed close together, which increases the chances of a short, he says, and they are filled with a flammable liquid electrolyte.
There is some inherent skewing there since the average EVs cost is 2-3 times that of an average gasoline vehicle. Doesn't change the ranking though, but the context suggests this to be the risk of catching fire in accidents.
[Anecdotal re passive fire initiation: Number of vehicles catching fire while just passively sitting in a parking lot or in your attached garage: Nil for gasoline and diesel vehicles, but regularly reported to happen with EVs. Some manufacturers recommend not parking your EV in an attached garage or close to the house.]
Also, interesting stats there for 2020 fire risk related recalls:
-- 1,086,000 internal combustion engine cars recalled for fire risk, of which 988,000 were for electrical shorts, 95,000 for ABS related issues, only 2,800 for fuel leaks.
-- 180,000 EVs and Hybrids were recalled for fire risk, all of them due to batteries.
So, fire risk recalls related to the actual power source were 0.25% for ICE vehicles, 100% for EVs/Hybrids.