Cars have advanced, regulation has lagged behind: Israel is not prepared for the electric vehicle era
Two recent incidents in Israel have highlighted a lack of regulatory readiness for electric vehicles. A fire in a Rishon LeZion parking lot exposed infrastructure risks, while a Tesla driver's misuse of semi-autonomous systems underscored the dangers of ignoring safety protocols.
Two events that occurred this week illustrate Israel's lack of regulatory readiness regarding electric vehicles and modern cars. These are the first incidents in which authorities have had to intervene, and at this stage, regulatory bodies have no real answers for such scenarios.
Parking lot fires: A hidden danger
The first incident occurred in Rishon LeZion: an electric Zeekr car entered an underground parking lot in a high-rise building. Due to circumstances still under investigation, the car apparently accelerated and hit a wall. As a result of the collision, the car caught fire, and the driver inside perished. The destruction was immense: 17 fire trucks and 34 firefighters were called to the scene. Residents were required to shelter in their homes for three hours while firefighters dealt with a blaze that caused heavy damage to other vehicles, including luxury cars.
It is worth noting that the fire was not caused by a technical malfunction or battery failure. The problem is the parking lot itself. Extinguishing an electric car fire requires pumping water directly into the battery, using an "electric blanket" to smother the flames, or towing the vehicle out of the danger zone. According to fire service reports, it took at least three hours to extinguish the fire.
Yossi Dekalo, head of the collection and investigation division at Israel Fire and Rescue Services, explained: "In a building with reinforced columns, iron can withstand heat of up to 800 degrees for 120 minutes. In a conventional fire, we can treat it quickly with water and foam. But with an electric vehicle, water or foam are ineffective due to the difficulty of reaching the battery housing. The only solution is to evacuate the building due to fears of foundation damage and structural collapse." If the fire had occurred in deeper parking levels inaccessible to fire trucks, the scenario would have been much more dangerous.
The control issue: Tesla and Autopilot
In the second case, police summoned a Tesla owner for questioning after he was caught driving without holding the steering wheel. The 36-year-old driver was questioned and released. While Tesla boasts about semi-autonomous capabilities, the company emphasizes that its cars are not fully autonomous and the driver must remain in control.
Under Israeli law, the driver must hold the steering wheel with both hands. While the Autopilot system is available in Israel, the more advanced FSD (Full Self-Driving) system has yet to be approved by the Ministry of Transport, despite previous promises. Some drivers attempt to bypass safety systems using heavy objects on the steering wheel or by "hacking" the vehicle's computer, ignoring the legal and safety consequences.
According to the Israel Police: "Autonomous driving is not legal in Israel. Advanced safety and assistance systems do not replace the driver and do not exempt him from responsibility. Driving requires alertness and full control at every moment. A driver who chooses to sleep while driving is endangering his life and the lives of all road users."
