Battery fire statistics span incomplete national estimates, city-specific investigations, publicly reported waste-facility cases and controlled fire tests. The figures below distinguish lithium-ion incidents from all vehicle fires, identify measurement periods and geographies, and preserve each source’s limits.
Key Battery Fire Statistics
The most broadly useful battery fire statistics are:
- An estimated 198,000 lithium-ion battery structure fires occurred in the United States since 2011, with a 95% confidence interval of 84,000 to 465,000.
- U.S. consumer lithium-ion battery fires were estimated to increase about 10% per year through 2023, with a 95% confidence interval of 7.1% to 13.0%.
- U.S. plug-in electric-vehicle fires were estimated to increase about 45% per year through 2023, with uncertainty of plus or minus 11.3 percentage points.
- An estimated 5,718 battery-electric and plug-in-hybrid vehicle fires occurred in the United States since 2011, with a 95% confidence interval of 2,866 to 10,846.
- NIST estimated 418 battery-electric vehicle fires in the United States in 2023, with a 95% interval of 195 to 863.
- NIST estimated 800 plug-in vehicle fires in the United States in 2023, including battery-electric vehicles and hybrids, with a 95% interval of 362 to 1,732.
- FDNY recorded 268 lithium-ion e-bike and e-scooter fire investigations in New York City in 2023, including 178 structural and 90 non-structural fires.
- New York City recorded 150 injuries from micromobility lithium-ion battery fires in 2023.
- New York City recorded 18 deaths from micromobility lithium-ion battery fires in 2023, compared with 6 in 2022.
- The EPA identified 245 lithium-metal or lithium-ion battery fires at 64 U.S. waste facilities from 2013 through 2020.
- EPA-identified waste-facility fires rose from 2 fires at one facility in 2013 to 65 fires across 16 facilities in 2020.
- Landfills accounted for 139 of the 245 fires in the EPA case compilation from 2013 through 2020, while materials-recovery facilities accounted for 68.
- Seventeen of the 64 facilities in the EPA dataset reported more than one lithium-ion battery fire, equal to 27% of the identified facilities.
- Five materials-recovery facilities in the EPA dataset experienced injury impacts from lithium-ion battery fires, equal to 22% of MRFs in that dataset.
- Large-scale battery-electric-vehicle fire studies report typical fire durations of 60 to 90 minutes.
- The reported peak heat-release-rate range for typical large-scale vehicle fires was 1.5 to 8 megawatts.
- The average total heat release in the summarized vehicle-fire studies was approximately 5.9 gigajoules.
Contents
- U.S. lithium-ion battery fire scale and growth
- Electric-vehicle battery fire data by year and type
- New York City e-bike and e-scooter fire trends
- Waste, recycling and landfill battery fire statistics
- Battery fire injuries, deaths and disruption
- What battery fire tests measure
U.S. Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Scale and Growth
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s multi-source analysis provides estimates rather than a complete incident registry. For the period since 2011, NIST estimated 198,000 lithium-ion battery structure fires in the United States, with a 95% confidence interval of 84,000 to 465,000. NIST, Understanding the Risk of Lithium-Ion Battery Fires – multi-source data analysis
NIST estimated that consumer lithium-ion battery fires increased about 10% annually through 2023, with a 95% confidence interval of 7.1% to 13.0%. The analysis says reporting is fragmented and incomplete, and battery identification is difficult in national datasets, so this is a trend estimate rather than a precise annual count. NIST, Understanding the Risk of Lithium-Ion Battery Fires – multi-source data analysis
The same analysis estimated plug-in electric-vehicle fires were increasing about 45% per year through 2023, with uncertainty of plus or minus 11.3 percentage points. NIST attributes much of the increase to the growing vehicle population; the figure is not a per-vehicle risk rate. NIST Technical Note 2365
For national context, the U.S. Fire Administration reports an NFPA-estimated 211,500 vehicle fires in the United States in 2024. Those are all vehicle fires, not lithium-ion-specific fires; after unknowns were apportioned, 43.8% were classified as unintentional, 22.3% had an undetermined cause after investigation, and equipment or heat-source failure accounted for 18.5%. USFA/FEMA, Outside and Vehicle Fire Causes
Electric-Vehicle Battery Fire Data by Year and Vehicle Type
NIST’s capture-recapture estimates separate battery-electric vehicles from the broader plug-in category, which includes hybrids. The 2021 value is absent from the source table and should not be interpolated.
| Year | Battery-electric vehicle fires | Plug-in vehicle fires, BEVs plus hybrids |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 63 (95% interval: 24–162) | 145 (58–400) |
| 2020 | 157 (34.7–603) | 287 (67.3–1,085) |
| 2022 | 271 (119–626) | 500 (218–1,128) |
| 2023 | 418 (195–863) | 800 (362–1,732) |
These are estimated U.S. fires, not directly observed complete counts. The wide intervals reflect sparse and incomplete identification data, and the plug-in category is broader than BEV-only. NIST Technical Note 2365
Across the 2011–2023 study period, NIST estimated 1,761 all-U.S. battery-electric vehicle fires and 3,535 all-U.S. plug-in vehicle fires. The corresponding estimates excluding Florida were 2,746 BEV fires, with a 95% interval of 1,337 to 5,324, and 5,718 plug-in fires, with a 95% interval of 2,866 to 10,846.
NIST considers the excluding-Florida estimates more reliable because Florida’s overlap rate may be unrepresentative. NIST Technical Note 2365
Outside Florida, NIST estimated the EV or hybrid VIN identification rate at about one in 17 fires. Its fitted annual growth estimates were about 46% for EV fires, with uncertainty of plus or minus 14.4 percentage points, and about 45% for plug-in fires, with uncertainty of plus or minus 11.3 percentage points.
These trends are affected by vehicle adoption and incomplete reporting, so they should not be read as exposure-adjusted risk. NIST Technical Note 2365
New York City E-Bike and E-Scooter Fire Trends
The New York City series measures FDNY-investigated fires involving e-bikes and e-scooters. It is not a count of all lithium-ion battery fires or all city vehicle fires.
| Year | Investigations | Injuries | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 30 | — | — |
| 2020 | 44 | 23 | — |
| 2021 | 104 | 79 | 4 |
| 2022 | 220 | 147 | 6 |
| 2023 | 268 | 150 | 18 |
From 2022 to 2023, investigations rose from 220 to 268, an increase of about 20% reported by the source. Deaths tripled from 6 to 18, while the 2023 total included 178 structural fires and 90 non-structural fires. New York City, Lithium-Ion Battery Related Fires in New York City
The FDNY data show structural fires rising from 23 in 2019 to 178 in 2023, and non-structural fires rising from 7 to 90 over the same period. These are city fire-department classifications, not population-adjusted rates. New York City, Lithium-Ion Battery Related Fires in New York City
A single June 20, 2023 fire at a New York City e-bike shop killed 4 people and critically injured 2. That incident’s 6 severe casualties are an event total, not a rate or representative sample. New York City, Lithium-Ion Battery Related Fires in New York City
Waste, Recycling and Landfill Battery Fire Statistics
The Environmental Protection Agency identified 245 lithium-metal or lithium-ion battery fires at 64 U.S. waste facilities from 2013 through 2020. The compilation covered 28 states and all 10 EPA regions, but it was based on publicly reported cases and was explicitly neither a random sample nor a complete count. EPA, An Analysis of Lithium-ion Battery Fires in Waste Management and Recycling
The identified facilities included 23 materials-recovery facilities, 13 transport facilities and 10 landfills. By fire count, 68 occurred at MRFs, 139 at landfills, 15 in transport and 23 at other facilities.
- Seventeen of the 64 facilities, or 27%, reported more than one lithium-ion battery fire.
- In 89% of the 245 cases, lithium-ion batteries were definitely identified as the cause; the remainder were reported as likely caused by one.
- EPA-identified fires increased from 2 fires at one facility in 2013 to 65 fires across 16 facilities in 2020.
These percentages describe the identified case dataset, not the share of all U.S. waste facilities. The EPA also notes that many incidents were not public or covered by news reports. EPA, An Analysis of Lithium-ion Battery Fires in Waste Management and Recycling
Among affected facilities, 78% of MRFs had called emergency responders at least once, compared with 40% of landfills. Five MRFs, or 22% of the MRFs in the dataset, experienced injury impacts from lithium-ion battery fires. EPA, An Analysis of Lithium-ion Battery Fires in Waste Management and Recycling
Battery Fire Injuries, Deaths and Disruption
The clearest quantified human outcomes in the supplied evidence are concentrated in New York City’s micromobility series. FDNY recorded 150 injuries and 18 deaths from e-bike and e-scooter lithium-ion battery fires in 2023, compared with 147 injuries and 6 deaths in 2022. New York City, Lithium-Ion Battery Related Fires in New York City
The EPA identified injury impacts at 5 MRFs and at 2 other facilities: a transport truck and a battery recycler. Because the report is a non-random compilation of identified cases, these counts cannot be converted into a national injury rate. EPA, An Analysis of Lithium-ion Battery Fires in Waste Management and Recycling
The 2023 New York City e-bike-shop fire illustrates why incident totals and outcomes should be read together: 4 people died and 2 were critically injured in one event. The source does not establish that this single incident represents typical micromobility fires. New York City, Lithium-Ion Battery Related Fires in New York City
What Battery Fire Tests Measure: Duration, Heat and Toxic Outputs
Controlled large-scale fire studies measure physical severity rather than population incidence. A 2023 peer-reviewed review reports typical vehicle-fire durations of 60 to 90 minutes, a peak heat-release-rate range of 1.5 to 8 megawatts and an average total heat release of approximately 5.9 gigajoules across summarized studies. Peer-reviewed review, Ecotoxicity Evaluation of Fire-Extinguishing Water from Large-Scale Battery and Battery Electric Vehicle Fire Tests
Those measurements combine study results and are not limited to battery-only energy. Vehicle composition and test scenario affect the result, so experimental duration and heat cannot be converted into field incident rates.
The same reviewed context estimates that plastics used in passenger-vehicle seating and upholstery account for approximately 20% of average passenger-vehicle weight. This is material-share context for interpreting vehicle-fire tests, not a battery-fire incidence statistic. Peer-reviewed review, Ecotoxicity Evaluation of Fire-Extinguishing Water from Large-Scale Battery and Battery Electric Vehicle Fire Tests
For readers comparing battery technologies or fire reports, the central distinction is measurement type: NIST estimates scale and trends from incomplete records, FDNY reports investigated city incidents, EPA compiles publicly reported facility cases, and fire-test studies measure controlled duration, heat release and related outputs.