Multi-Criteria Assessment of the Fire Hazard of Vehicles With Different Types of Power Plants in the Context of a Lack of Statistical Data

With the rapid introduction of electric vehicles into everyday life, there is a need for a systematic assessment of their fire hazard at the selection stage, especially given limited statistics on actual incidents. This article proposes an original method for comparatively assessing the fire hazard of vehicles with different powertrain types – electric vehicles, vehicles with internal combustion engines, and hybrid electric vehicles. This study confirms that multicriteria decision analysis methods (analytic hierarchy process, simple additive weighting) allow for theoretical assessment of potential negative consequences even in the absence of statistical data, creating a basis for informed decision-making.