It is the increase in the number of electric and hybrid cars that is linked to the doubling of car fires, according to the Emergency Management Agency's latest figures.
Between 2022 and 2023, the number of fires in electric and hybrid cars on Danish roads has increased from 20 to 46 per year, i.e. more than doubling.
This is what the Emergency Management Agency writes in a press release .
However, this does not mean that electric car owners should be afraid that their cars will spontaneously run off. Rather the contrary.
The National Emergency Management Agency points out that the increasing number of fires must be seen in the context of the increasing sales of both electric cars and hybrids. At the same time, the stock of car types has increased by just over 100,000 cars from 220,000 to 330,000 units.
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Cut to the bone, this means that in 2023 there were 1.7 fires per 100,000 electric and hybrid cars. In 2022, the figure was 1.1 fires per 100,000 car.
However, the increased number of fires does not worry Frederik Prytz-Gronfeld, head of analysis at the agency. In fact, he sees it as an expression of the expected development in the number of electric and hybrid cars.
– The number of fires in electric and hybrid cars is increasing, but so is the number of cars.
– When we compare ourselves to other countries, for example the Netherlands had 133 fires in electric and hybrid cars in 2023 – but they also have around 800,000 electric and hybrid cars in the country.
– This international perspective, combined with the rescue services' general focus on handling this type of fire over the past few years, means that I am not worried, says the head of analysis.
Analyzes from other countries also point out that there is no major fire hazard associated with e.g. electric cars. Nevertheless, Greece has decided to ban fully charged electric cars on board ferries throughout the country. Read more about it here .
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