If you have an electric or hybrid vehicle that took in flood water over the weekend, emergency officials recommend getting it checked out by a mechanic before driving it.
“These batteries that are going through floods are just about spontaneously combusting and causing a very real fire problem for everybody,” Milwaukee Fire Department Chief Aaron Lipski said at a news briefing Aug. 8.
“Get that checked out properly before you start using it again,” Lipski said.
That applies to vehicles that became submerged in flood waters, or drivers who drove through pools of standing water, which county officials are urging people not to do.
“We’ve been telling people over and over and over again: Don’t drive through the water,” he said.
More: Wisconsin flooding: Updates power outages, closures, flooding in Milwaukee from severe weather
An easy way to tell if your vehicle has a battery at risk during floods? Check your license plate for an orange EV sticker, which the state Department of Transportation implemented last year.
Those stickers were created under state law to help first responders identify if an electric vehicle is involved in an emergency situation. The batteries in EVs and hybrid vehicles can pose risks like electric shock.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: If your EV, hybrid car took on flood water, get it checked before driving