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Can a car explode due to an electrical malfunction?
I once read that most vehicle explosions are due to electrical faults. Is this true? Can a car explode due to an electrical malfunction?
Alex Healey · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
What an awesome and terrifying question! Truthfully, car explosions are pretty rare outside of action movies, but electrical malfunctions can trigger them. In fact, they are the second most common cause after crashes.
How so? Well, your car is full of electrical components. Just one loose wire can cause a spark, resulting in the following:
- The spark ignites the gasoline in your tank. The hot gas is allowed to build up inside the confined space, causing an explosion.
- The spark ignites hydrogen build-up in your engine (hydrogen is created during the battery’s charging cycle), causing an explosion.
While these risks are associated with ICE cars, electric vehicles have the potential to be even more dangerous. This is because they use lithium-ion batteries, which require special chemical extinguishers in the event of a fire.
If you attempt to douse the flames with water, you run the risk of creating highly-flammable hydrogen gas, which only needs one errant spark to explode.
Fortunately, while vehicle fires are fairly common, spectacular, movie-style explosions are rare, and most drivers have the chance to get away from their vehicle unharmed.
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