F150 Lightning EV Fire in Service Bay

[davel8257]

I'm hoping to keep my Lightning 15+ years -- I kept my last 2 ICE trucks an average of 15 years. The thought of a fire never crossed my mind in any gasoline vehicle I've been in -- however, the risk is very real. I've got a yellow 'safety can' for storing gas -- tight seal with a trigger release -- always a 'whoosh' vapor release ---- uuuugh! -- scary.

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[davehu]

That's a wild stretch of the imagination.

a few years ago but still valid. Gas Vs Electric Accident and Fire Safety

 

[chl]

Not that unusual to not be on the news. I was involved in lots of incidents that didn't make the news.

You're a lawyer @chl , right? Would you ever advise a client to answer any questions from some random person that calls and asks about a fire in their service bay? I'm not a lawyer, but I would hang up.

You might be able to make a records request through the local fire department, but even that may be legally protected.

I hear ya...maybe the dealership wouldn't respond, but the local fire dept. would have a duty to report to the public about such an event with few exceptions.

But Youtube is not where I get reliable news, I look for corroboration whenever I see these things. The way Ai is these days, you can't just blindly trust a video anymore, alas.

And people tend to jump to conclusions.

A serious vehicle fire with explosions, especially an EV fire in Georgia, is always newsworthy, and when local town fire dept. responds, it IS a public record, though some details may be withheld in case of litigation or an on-going criminal investigation by the fire marshal for example.

That local newspaper had a story about vehicle fires at a towing company lot on their web page when I searched "fire." So I do wonder...

Not saying it didn't happen, just want to know for sure if it was an EV fire in one of our Lightnings.

 

[DerMot]

I was at a Lightning Meetup today and a very cool White Pro showed up -- it looked a lot like the one in the photo -- so I could be wrong. The brake lights don't like right in the YouTube photo grab though.

 

[chl]

BTW: the transcript says that the information was sent to the Youtube video poster by a subscriber!

And he mentions that his goal is "100,000 subscribers for 2026" which is kind of a weird thing to put in a fire safety video?

His transcript provides what he considers important safety info when dealing with a Li battery fire, so kudos for that....but I would prefer he had done some 'due diligence' about its veracity before posting it, and I see no evidence he did that.

 

[Maxx]

Actually, it's about correct, depending on which studies are being quoted.

EV fires are sensationalized in the media, but the actual rate of fires for EVs are a small fraction of the rate for combustion vehicles.

https://firerover.com/resources/how-often-do-ev-batteries-catch-fire/

How Common Are EV Fires?
Here’s what current studies say — EV fires, while dramatic, are significantly less frequent than those in gasoline-powered vehicles:

• All-electric vehicles experience about 25 fires per 100,000 sold, compared to 1,530 fires per 100,000 for gasoline cars
• In Sweden, EVs and hybrids caught fire at a rate of 3.8 fires per 100,000 vehicles, whereas combustion-engine cars caught fire at 68 per 100,000, making ICE vehicles nearly 29x more likely to ignite.
• Studies spanning 2010–2020 saw EV battery fire rates at 0.0012%, compared to 0.1% for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
• In Poland, EVs and ICE vehicles had equal incident rates—approximately 0.23 fires per 1,000 registered vehicles.

Key Takeaway: Across multiple geographies and datasets, EVs catch fire far less frequently than gas cars and, in some cases, are on par with ICEs as they become more prevalent.

The big difference between Poland numbers and the rest makes me skeptical about all. Especially since none of them have any mention of normalizing for the age of the vehicles. Average age of all vehicles in U.S. is around 12.8 years where average age for BEVs is 3.7 years. If that is not a part of these stats all of these numbers are meaningless. Aging components is definitely a factor Both in ICE and BEVs.

All of that aside part of the freak out factor is that BEVs seem to be able to catch on fire when there is an internal short in the cell even when you are not charging or long after driving when battery is at normal temperature. This uncertainty that instantaneous combustion can happen at anytime and any location and even fire fighters have to stand back and watch it burn takes over our lizard brain and makes statistics irrelevant.

 

[garsh]

Average age of all vehicles in U.S. is around 12.8 years where average age for BEVs is 3.7 years. If that is not a part of these stats all of these numbers are meaningless. Aging components is definitely a factor Both in ICE and BEVs.

Very true. And most studies I have seen in the past have taken it into account. I just tried to quote an "overview" article from what appeared to be a neutral site.

All of that aside part of the freak out factor is that BEVs seem to be able to catch on fire when there is an internal short in the cell even when you are not charging or long after driving when battery is at normal temperature. This uncertainty that instantaneous combustion can happen at anytime and any location and even fire fighters have to stand back and watch it burn takes over our lizard brain and makes statistics irrelevant.

I disagree with the first part. Combustion vehicles also catch on fire when not driving or refueling, and at higher rates than EVs. I even had a recall on a Hyundai Tucson I owned where they warned this could happen and recommended that everyone park the vehicle outside until a fix was available.

I think what scares people about EV fires in particular is that people are unfamiliar with battery chemical fires. People generally understand how to combat gasoline fires - remove the fuel or the oxygen, and the fire will stop. But battery fires have to be handled differently - you have to remove the heat. That's why you generally have to keep a slow, steady stream of water on the battery, and it takes a while to get it sufficiently cooled. You need to cool it down until the current cells on fire stop igniting the cells next to them, and that's difficult to do with how closely they're packed together.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

BTW: the transcript says that the information was sent to the Youtube video poster by a subscriber!

And he mentions that his goal is "100,000 subscribers for 2026" which is kind of a weird thing to put in a fire safety video?

His transcript provides what he considers important safety info when dealing with a Li battery fire, so kudos for that....but I would prefer he had done some 'due diligence' about its veracity before posting it, and I see no evidence he did that.

Is this your first time watching a youtube video? He has that bit about asking for people to subscribe to his channel in every every video. Just like virtually every youtube content creator does and is basically required to do at this point.

Anyway, yes he receives a lot of incident tips and information directly from on-scene sources. It is completely normal for a fire to not be in the news. It is mind boggling that people on this forum are so fan-boy obsessed with the notion that any bad thing must be fake news that they think this must be made up AI or something. My god people get a grip.

 

[hturnerfamily]

here's my PRO SR module replacement... works just fine... Fayetteville/Stivers FORD, very near Speedway Ford of Griffin GA....
and, yes, the tail lights are different between trims...

My first son is also a Firefighter, locally...
his Captain is also one of my customers...
I have shared this fire video, and the accompanying audio reporting at the time of the incident...
they appreciate it.

 

[hturnerfamily]

... my initial thought is that it's possible that the tech had this dropped battery pack on a mobile DC Charger, for testing, while still under the vehicle... not a battery pack simply 'sitting' alone....

 

[RickLightning]

I was at a Lightning Meetup today and a very cool White Pro showed up -- it looked a lot like the one in the photo -- so I could be wrong. The break lights don't like right in the YouTube photo grab though.

brake...

 

[TaxmanHog]

And he mentions that his goal is "100,000 subscribers for 2026" which is kind of a weird thing to put in a fire safety video?

It's a standard insert on the majority of his productions, common with start-up YouTube channels

 

[ClevelandBeemer]

So to recap. There’s a video reporting a Lightning caught in fire in a service bay with no other details about the truck or circumstances known…… I’m shocked we’re 3 pages in.

 

[TaxmanHog]

So to recap. There’s a video reporting a Lightning caught in fire in a service bay with no other details about the truck or circumstances known…… I’m shocked we’re 3 pages in.

 

[DavidS]

Just like a gas tank, current EV batteries require proper maintenance procedures. That’s the takeaway. The Chinese have already solved this problem and mandated safer batteries. My guess is like everything else EV, we’re 3-5 years behind in regulations. Particularly because the EV/battery industry will want to continue to use their manufacturing capacity until it’s no longer profitable.
Another example of why you should lease EVs right now, all other the being equal.

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