Electric cars being banned by strata from charging in apartment car parks – report

12/19/2024 05:00 PM

Strata owners across Australia are banning electric vehicles (EVs) from charging within underground car parks amid fire and safety concerns.

According to a report by the ABC, EV fires have become a hot topic at strata committee meetings, including last month where one unspecified committee in Sydney's Inner West voted in favour of banning owners of battery-powered cars – including hybrids – from charging their vehicles underground.

One resident of the building who charges their Tesla Model 3 on a 10-amp charger said they've experienced "real scaremongering" from other building occupants.

"What surprised me was the absolute hatred and angst regarding EVs in the car park and how they're always catching fire and blowing up," the resident told the ABC.

"[Another resident] started quoting the incredible amounts of money it would be to have our block compliant with Australian fire safety standards," they added.

MORE: Developers exploit legal loophole to fit EV chargers despite fire warnings – Exclusive

Despite residential concerns, the latest global EV fire data collated by EV Fire Safe – an Federal Government-funded research organisation – found that there have been 511 EV battery fires since 2010.

According to EV Fire Safe, there have been eight EV fires – out of the estimated 180,000 EVs on the road – recorded in Australia since 2021, of which three were caused by external fires not relating to the car itself, three were caused by high-speed collisions, one was identified as arson, and one was due to "unknown causes".

For comparison, there were 2803 petrol and diesel car fires reported in NSW in the 2022-2023 financial year alone.

"To date [December 2024], FRNSW [Fire and Rescue NSW] has only recorded two incidents relating to EVs in 2024," an FRNSW spokesperson previously told Drive.

However, it is worth noting that EVs only account for approximately 1 per cent of Australia’s national light vehicle fleet, which could factor into the large discrepancy of fire-reported incidents between battery-powered vehicles and traditional petrol and diesel-powered cars.

As exclusively reported by Drive in December 2024, some Australian building developers are exploiting a legal loophole that allows them to retrospectively install EV chargers without the appropriate fire suppression methods, leading to concerns among multiple experts.

"The issue is about public safety and making sure that this building that was built in maybe 1880 that’s been modified and adapted to become a residential building with car parking is capable of withstanding the impact of a fire," Jeremy Turner, Technical Manager for the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS), told Drive.

"I think building owners or even occupiers of these buildings, are going to expect that somebody’s put some thought into that. And if regulators are. not standing by that principle and making sure that that happens, I think probably they would be concerned,” Turner added.

This news comes as other apartments and business buildings in other countries, including South Korea and China, had earlier started to ban electric vehicles in underground car parks, citing similar EV fire safety worries.

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