EV Catches Fire in Las Vegas Convention Center During SEMA Show

Anytime that new technology comes out and seeks to completely replace something that consumers have become familiar with over the years, there is bound to be some pushback. Some of this pushback is unwarranted as people can be hesitant to accept change but other opinions that belong to naysayers are very valid. Just like anything else, it takes a smart person to be able to dissect new technology and figure out what’s real and what isn’t.

One of the very real issues when it comes to owning an electric vehicle is figuring out how to handle a fire. Contrary to popular belief, research does show that currently, electric vehicles are less likely to catch on fire than their combustion-powered counterparts. However, it seems that when they do catch on fire, it creates some unique new issues that can be incredibly dangerous. Fires within the batteries known as “chemical fires” are much harder for a typical firefighting team to extinguish than an average car fire.

This concept came to light at the 2022 SEMA show where there were plenty of electric-powered rides on display. In this particular case, we catch up with one build that went up in smoke and was showcased by YouTube user, Jalopy Jeff.

According to our host, he believes that the fire was due to something that’s known as a “thermal runaway.” Basically, this means that the battery goes into a defective state and cells begin to break down. He also mentions that normally, a failsafe fuse is in place that is designed to prevent this sort of issue. We aren’t sure if the build in question featured one of these fuses but what we can say is that the fire was pretty scary.

In the video below, we watch as the smoking electric vehicle is fortunately detected before the fire got too bad and was able to be rolled outside of the convention center and into an open parking lot where firefighters would extinguish the blaze.