EVs Flooded During Hurricane Could Catch Fire, Officials Warn

A partially submerged vehicle sits in flood water from after Hurricane Helene passed the area, in Atlanta on Sept. 27, 2024. Jason Allen/AP Photo

Officials have warned electric vehicle (EV) owners in the path of Hurricane Helene that their EVs are at risk of catching fire if flooded with saltwater and to take necessary precautions.

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told owners to park their EVs where they won’t become submerged to avoid the risk of fire, incidents that have been reported after hurricanes.

Tesla alerted its customers that if they observe “fire, smoke, audible popping/hissing or heating” after their vehicle has been submerged to retreat and call first responders.

Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis issued a statement before the hurricane touched down, telling people that if they had an EV, a scooter with a lithium-ion battery, or a golf cart with a battery in an area that could become submerged with salt water, they should “move those assets to higher ground.”

“The saltwater compromises those batteries and poses fire risks,” Patronis said. “EV companies can proactively notify consumers of these risks, so keep a close eye out for safety messages from these EV manufacturers in the event of an evacuation so those batteries don’t cause destruction that could have been avoided.”

In October 2022, he said he witnessed such a fire in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

“Firefighters put out the fire, then it would reignite,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Firefighting teams stated that it was the result of saltwater on compromised batteries, he said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed to Patronis that it wasn’t an isolated incident and that the first instance of EV fires caused by saltwater inundation took place after Hurricane Sandy in October 2021, when a port was flooded in Newark, New Jersey.

Tom Barth, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said when EV batteries are submerged, they can short circuit and begin to heat up, and if that heat is carried between cells within the battery, it can result in a chain reaction called thermal runaway.

“If the saltwater is able to bridge the gap between the positive and negative terminals of [the] battery, then it can cause a short circuit,” he said.

Although manufacturers design the batteries to keep this from happening using insulation barriers to keep moisture out, it becomes an issue when the battery is submerged in water, leading to the moisture seal becoming breached.

Barth noted that some EVs can even ignite after the water has lowered and evaporated because the salt is left behind to potentially conduct electricity, which is why it’s important to have them inspected after being submerged.

“It’s not like every vehicle that gets flooded is therefore going to ignite and catch fire,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.