Well, this isn’t good. A Porsche Taycan sitting in a garage spontaneously burst into flames a week ago. It burned to the ground and also destroyed the garage located in South Florida. Porsche says it is investigating the incident. While we don’t know if EVs are more likely to go up in flames than internal combustion vehicles, it happens with some regularity. 

Tesla says ICE vehicles are 11 times more likely to catch fire than EVs. But the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration suspects there are more instances than Tesla is fessing up to. It has opened a federal investigation into Tesla battery fires. It is looking at Teslas sold between 2012 and 2019 in the US. 

Porsche is monitoring the Taycan fire incident but says it’s too early to speculate

Porsche says about the Taycan incident, “On Sunday, 16th February we were made aware of an incident at a residential address in Florida where one of our cars was parked overnight. We are investigating and we remain ready to assist if called upon. No one was harmed in this incident, and it’s too early to speculate on the cause until the investigation has concluded.”

The aftermath of the fire was recorded on video on social media this week. However, some of those videos were removed upon request of the owner and Porsche. Obviously, everyone involved wants to keep things on the down-low. The Taycan was incinerated and the building was also destroyed. The adjacent house received fire damage as well.

This Taycan was one of the first 130 to arrive in the US

This Taycan was one of 130 of the EVs Porsche brought into the US in January. With so few being in the US to only see one of them catch fire does raise concerns. At $150,000, you want to know your purchase as well as your property won’t spontaneously combust. 

While some locals are posting pictures and video none have revealed who the owner is. While there is no reason for Taycan owners to panic we do hope that an answer as to what caused the fire can be determined quickly. 

The Taycan is not the first EV to burn to the ground

Since there are built-in electric charging stations it could have been faulty wiring and not have anything to do with the car. But with lithium-ion batteries known for getting hot, it will definitely be explored. And this Taycan is definitely not the first new EV to ignite. 

In late 2018 a Jaguar I-Pace went up in flames. A Hyundai Kona EV burst into flames last year. Audi has recalled hundreds of its E-Tron right after its release for fear of battery fires in June 2019. Also in June Nio, a Chinese EV manufacturer, recalled several thousand EVs for problems with the design of its batteries. 

Vehicle fires is a common-enough problem that Tesla put together a guide for first responders at a vehicle fire. That’s both commendable and a bit scary. 

EV fires seem to catch the attention of the media and this particular one because of the circumstances. We’ll revisit this story when more facts become available.