Yes, by the available crash and fire data, EVs are at least as safe as comparable gas vehicles, and in some measures, safer. That said, they have a genuinely different risk profile, not more dangerous overall, just different in specific ways worth understanding.
Crash safety
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has crash-tested EVs since 2011, and several currently earn the organization’s Top Safety Pick designation. IIHS data compiled from 2011 to 2019 found injury claim rates for EV occupants were more than 40% lower than for identical gas-powered versions of the same models. According to IIHS vice president Raul Arbelaez, the extra weight from an EV’s battery pack, positioned low in the chassis, appears to genuinely improve occupant protection by lowering the vehicle’s center of gravity and reducing rollover risk.
Fire risk
EV battery fires get outsized media attention because they’re visually dramatic and harder to extinguish once they start, but they happen considerably less often than gas vehicle fires. Sweden’s Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) reported roughly 24 EV fires in 2022 out of 611,000 registered EVs, a rate of about 0.004%, compared to 0.08% for gasoline and diesel vehicles, gas vehicles catching fire at roughly 20 times the rate. EV FireSafe, an Australian research organization that maintains a global database of verified incidents, recorded fewer than 400 confirmed passenger EV battery fires worldwide between 2010 and mid-2023, a small number against a rapidly growing global EV fleet.
According to Arbelaez, in over a decade of IIHS crash testing, no EV has ever caught fire during a test. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has concluded that EVs do not present a greater risk of post-crash fire than gasoline-powered vehicles.
Where the genuine differences lie
| Factor | What’s actually different |
|---|---|
| When a fire does happen | Lithium-ion battery fires burn hotter, take longer to extinguish, and in rare cases can reignite after being put out. Fires are less frequent, but more resource-intensive to manage when they occur. |
| Vehicle weight and other road users | Heavier vehicles, EVs included, pose more risk to occupants of lighter vehicles in a collision. This isn’t unique to EVs, IIHS research shows the same pattern for heavy gas trucks and SUVs, but it’s a real factor as heavier EVs become more common. |
| High-voltage systems after a crash | First responders follow specific protocols for electrical isolation on EVs, a genuinely different procedure than a gas vehicle, but one that’s now well established across Canadian emergency services. |
💡 Tip: Fire risk concerns are understandable given how dramatic EV fires look in news coverage, but the actual data consistently shows them happening less often than gas vehicle fires, not more. It’s a case where perception and statistics point in different directions.
⚠️ Note: If you’re ever in a collision, follow standard safety procedures, get to a safe location and contact emergency services. If you notice unusual smells, smoke, or sounds from the battery area after a crash, move away from the vehicle and inform first responders it’s an EV so they can follow the correct protocol.