HOW TO REACT if your electric vehicle catches fire. “Also, you shouldn’t attempt to put out the flame yourself. This is a chemical fire, so a couple buckets of water won’t sufficiently smother the flames. EV battery fires can take first responders around 10 times more water to extinguish than a fire in a gas-powered vehicle. Sometimes the firefighters may decide to let the battery just burn itself out, rather than dousing it with water.”

Water isn’t great for extinguishing a gasoline vehicle fire, either. CO2 or halon or dry chemical extinguishers are better. And can you “turn off the engine” on an electric vehicle?