Hi All,

We manage apartment blocks, and sometimes residents install their own EV chargers in basement car parks without seeking the appropriate permissions etc.

In these cases, we are usually recommended to enforce removal of the charger or install heat detection that is linked to an ARC.

I am aware that an EV fire is a greater hazard than an ICE fire. What I’m struggling to understand is why an ICE fire is not so much of a hazard to already need these measures.

Surely a car fire of any kind is a great hazard, and being in a part of the building that is frequently unoccupied, it would make sense to have heat detection linked to an ARC?

Everything I’ve seen online suggests that EV fires are less likely than ICE. Although I haven’t found anything that only compares the numbers of parked ICE cars to charging EVs.

Maybe I am missing something!

Any thoughts appreciated.

The current thoughts are that the probability of an ICE fire is 1,500 fires per 100,000 vehicles, for EV’s 25 fires per 100,000 vehicles.

The issue is that when an ICE car is involved in a fire there is limited fuel and a lower temperature 800 to 1000 C for an EV up to 1200 C. 

02.3 Key findings | EV Fire Safe

If residents are installing their own chargers points, this will inevitably put additional load on the DNO supply for the building. That could cause a fire safety issue on its own. In any event, the DNO should be advised of the installation of any charge point within 28 days.

I see this becoming a burgeoning fire safety problem as we migrate towards an increasingly electrified world.