Should EV chargers be permitted in basement carparks of residential buildings? Photo: James Coleman.
One of Canberra’s leading facilities managers believes there is a lot of misinformation surrounding electric vehicle fire risks that is creating headwinds for the installation of EV infrastructure in apartment building basements.
Civium Facilities Management director Alex Boundy said, since an EV lithium-ion battery exploded at Sydney Airport in September 2023, there had been a lot of concerns raised by apartment owners in strata complexes, with some requesting no EV access to their basement carparks.
“There’s some anti-EV residents within owners’ corporations that are driving this bogus fire-risk campaign,” he said.
“They’re against using their funds for site-wide charging, so using fear to support their cause. It’s a very biased situation.”
Mr Boundy said, while some body corporates had placed a blanket ban on EV chargers, others had “recognised that EVs are part of the community” and were allowing owners to charge their cars.
He said there were “still a lot of myths and misconceptions” around EVs and the potential for battery fires in basement carparks.
“There isn’t enough data out there to support what’s being said. It’s still far too early for these claims to be anything other than anecdotal,” Mr Boundy explained.
“Research indicates that e-scooters and e-bikes and all sorts of devices with lithium batteries are more likely to catch fire. A lot are cheap, unregulated devices and people have them in their apartments, basements and balconies. That’s what I’d be more concerned about.”
Mr Boundy said, while older buildings were more at risk of a “rare” EV fire, the National Construction Code (NCC) required all new apartment buildings to be built EV-ready.
“The way buildings are being built now, with basements being isolated and improved fire ratings, if I was a resident, I wouldn’t be too concerned,” he said.
“The reality is, we’re moving towards an EV world and when someone buys an EV, they want to be able to charge it at home.
“We manage facilities that are being retrofitted with chargers; some have one or two chargers, and a couple have more than 30 installed.”
Civium Facilities Management director Alex Boundy said there were “still a lot of myths and misconceptions” around EVs and the potential for battery fires in basement carparks. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
He said a “good indicator” of the EV fire risk was apartment building insurance premiums.
“As recently as last week, having an EV charger has had no effect on premiums, because insurers base their cover on statistics.
“They’re at the coalface, so insurance premiums are a good indicator of the real risk.
“People need to be looking at the numbers, rather than listening to hype from anti-EV campaigners.”
A specialist in policy analysis, risk and claims management, Steven Farmer from Allinsure said EV lithium-ion battery fires in residential strata complexes were being “very closely watched and analysed” by insurance companies.
“There’s a whole host of potential risks waiting to be realised,” he said.
“New buildings with all the right infrastructure in place will fare better when it comes to insurance.”
He said an $80,000 EV had “greater protection measures” built-in as opposed to a cheap e-scooter, however once a fire started in a lithium car battery, it could “sometimes take days” to extinguish.
Some insurers are starting to include management packages to educate people about how to look after their vehicle or devices with lithium-ion batteries to reduce the fire risk.
Mr Boundy said the issue continued to be hotly debated by apartment owners at AGMs and he wanted to ensure residents were properly informed of the risk.
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