Given the urgent need to reduce fossil fuel emissions, the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is inevitable and essential. The EU wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 90% by 2040, and foresees 13 million zero- or low-emission vehicles on the road by 2025.

Several European countries have introduced their own measures to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. Thanks to these policies and rapid technological advances, electric vehicle sales in Europe rose from 3.2 % of the total market share in 2019 to approximately 10 % in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. This upward trajectory is expected to continue, reaching 19 % in 2025 and 35 % in 2030.

However, these vehicles are not risk-free. Even when stationary.

Although our towns and cities are designed around roads that were built for cars, by some estimates these vehicles spend about 95% of their time in the garage.

This raises a new set of safety concerns. The programs of study indicate that electric vehicle batteries are at risk of thermal runaway, a phenomenon that can lead to sudden and extensive fires.

The dangers are far from hypothetical: in central Madrid on August 29, 2023, a plug-in hybrid vehicle caught fire at car park in a busy shopping mall on the bustling Paseo de La Castellana. In a similar incident, on September 25, 2022, an electric vehicle caught fire in Barcelona, destroying itself and an adjacent vehicle.

Although batteries are a major risk factor, the research has shown that other potential causes of electric vehicle fires include vehicle failure, factors from management, human factors and external factors.

From a fire safety engineering point of view, enclosed spaces, such as subway parking lots, greatly increase the risk of compartment fires. In these situations, heat and fumes from a fire are trapped, increasing the severity of the fire and its impact on exposed persons. Compartment fires also cause incomplete combustion, releasing large amounts of hazardous gases and extreme heat, which can be lethal in these environments.

As parking lots fill up with more and more electric vehicles, these Structures essentially become large-scale battery storage systems, which greatly increases the risk of fire. The installation of charging stations can further increase the likelihood of a fire.

Although the use of electric vehicles is widespread throughout Europe, fire safety regulations for new and existing buildings vary considerably from country to country. This is due to variations in government Structures , legal systems and the different roles of the public and private sectors within each nation.

Despite these discrepancies, the most pressing concern is the striking lack of specific fire safety regulations for alternative vehicles, including electric vehicles, in some European countries. In 2020, building codes in several countries - Spain, the Netherlands, and Norway - lacked specific design fire safety regulations for electric vehicles in parking lots.

This absence of a specific rules and regulations raises important questions for the design of both new and existing enclosed parking lots. The incidents in Madrid and Barcelona are a clear reminder that it is becoming increasingly urgent to have a thorough understanding of the fire risks associated with electric vehicles.

An effort is currently underway at partnership to achieve this goal. It involves researchers from the University of Navarra (Spain) and Universiti Putra Malaysia, and builds on previous research projects focused on vehicle fires in parking lots. However, the scope of this topic is very broad, so many specialized researchers will need to be included in the coming months and years.

The future of sustainable transport depends on our ability to understand and mitigate these risks. We need not only specific regulatory frameworks, but also a cohesive Europe-wide strategy that ensures a uniformly high level of safety. Only by making progress in this critical area can we ensure that the transition to electric mobility is safe and beneficial for all of society.