Fire safety distances for electric vehicles with damaged battery pack

The increase in electric vehicles has led to more vehicles of this kind being involved in accidents. Since there is a risk of a delayed initiation of thermal runaway in these cases, many countries have recommendations for safety distances from crashed vehicles to buildings. This report is a part of the effort to develop similar guidance for Sweden, which was initiated by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB). First, guidance from a few similar countries was summarized, followed by a more detailed assessment of the scientific literature. The compilation of experimental studies and analytical models suggested a distance of 4 meters for passenger cars, 8 meters for buses, and 5 or 12 meters for trucks, depending on whether they have a load or not. A line-of-sight method for barrier sizing was also recommended, together with an EI30 fire rating. The assessment has significant uncertainty due to the scarcity of data in the literature, but this is believed to be to the best of current knowledge.