If you’re familiar with EVs, you’ll know two things about their relationship with fire: one, that they’re far less likely than petrol cars to catch fire; and two, they’re also much harder to put out once ablaze. Hmm.

This poses a problem for underground and multi-storey car parks: how do you stop the electric car acting like a match in a hay barn when a fire engine can’t get to it?..

Water jet tech from Swedish firm Cold Cut Systems could be deployed against the increasing threat of so-called thermal runaway blazes in electric vehicle batteries, following successful tests by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (SCCA).

The risk of fires in EVs, though small, is a big worry for fire services. Lithium-ion batteries burn fiercely, potentially producing ‘jet flames’ and venting highly..