Causes and dangers of electric vehicle fires in wake of M5 blazeToxic fumes, sparks, explosions and a giant mushroom cloud were seenView Image A car transporter on fire on M5. (Image: Joshua Marc Coffey)The devastating fire on the M5 motorway yesterday unleashed large quantities of highly toxic chemicals into the sky over Devon. Electric vehicle fires cause major problems and have to be treated with extreme caution by firefighters. What are the dangers of an electric vehicle fire? ‌"I saw sparks flying across all three lanes of the M5, I was stuck near the front of the traffic for nearly three hours."