December 4, 2020: The amount of lithium fire recalls in electric vehicles has hit a record high in 2020 according to an IdTechEx research on thermal management announced in early December.

In China, 10,579 battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids have been recalled due to fire hazards across seven OEMs (January to October).

General Motors has recalled 68,667 Chevrolet Bolts, telling owners not to park their cars near their house or in their garage for risk of fire.

This has not just been limited to a few OEMs either. “Contacts in the industry have revealed to IdTechEx that EVs will become safer than conventional vehicles, but currently, almost every OEM with an EV has had at least one serious fire-related incident,” says the research firm.

“The causes of these fires have varied with contaminants in the cells being the cause in some cases and poor thermal design allowing batteries to overheat in others. Regardless of the root cause, the importance of preventing cell overheating and detection and containment of thermal runaway is a topic of growing importance.”