Car parks may experience a new risk with the growing trend of electric vehicles (EVs) and, in particular, the likelihood that the cars will be charged in car parks. There has been a lot of publicity recently about EV fires and the challenges in dealing with them, particularly if the fire develops within the batteries themselves.
Car parks are already risky places, as was demonstrated by the fire at the Douglas Village Shopping Centre in Cork, Ireland. When a people carrier caught fire there. Despite the fire being spotted early and measures taken, the result was severe – not only were more than 60 cars damaged, but there was also structural damage to the building, resulting in costs estimated at millions of Euro. It is sobering to realise that the risks of this type of damage are likely to increase with the advent of charging in car parks.
The time needed to charge an electric car can be anything between 30 minutes and 12 hours, depending on the size of the battery and the capacity of the charging point. Pure electric cars, with their larger batteries, will be at the longer end of that time frame.
With the government promoting the uptake of EVs and hybrids, and the subsequent need for improved charging infrastructure the installation of charging points in car parks is likely. It is during charging that EV fires are considered most likely to occur so improved guidance is starting to emerge.
The government have recently published an interim guidance study here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1168956/covered-car-parks-fire-safety-guidance-for-electric-vehicles.pdf
Because charging of electric vehicles will often continue when premises are unoccupied, the measures to be considered should include:
• physical segregation of the charging points from process and storage areas (see section 5);
• provision of suitable power supply, control and isolation systems;
• suitable fire detection and warning installations in case of fire;
• provision of suitable portable firefighting equipment;
• development of an emergency action plan to protect life and property and ensure the continuing functioning of the business in the case of fire; and
• staff training in the safe charging of vehicles and the actions to take in the event of fire, including the safe shut down of the charging process and evacuation of the premises.’
In car parks, there is the additional risk that a fire in one vehicle can spread to another, or that a fire from a petrol vehicle could spread to an electric vehicle, whether electric-only or hybrid vehicles.
All fires are risky, but these are particularly dangerous because of the nature of the lithium-ion batteries that are used in electric cars. If they burn, it is very difficult to put out the fire. When researchers at the NFPA (the United States’ National Fire Protection Association) carried out tests on lithium ion batteries, they came to the following conclusions:
“In each of the six full-scale burn tests, firefighters at the test site found that they needed to flow large amounts of water on the batteries, because fire kept flaring up even after it appeared to be extinguished. In one test, a battery fire reignited 22 hours after it was thought to be extinguished.
“‘Everything looked normal,’” recalled Andrew Blum, a researcher at the firm Exponent, which conducted the tests. ‘When we looked at the battery through a thermal imager, everything was back to ambient temperatures; the fire was extinguished as we would define it. But there was something going on internally in the module, and we just couldn’t tell.’ In two of the tests, firefighters ran out of air and had to switch tanks because of the length of time it took to fully extinguish the battery, according to Blum.”
Smoke and toxic gases are a particular problem. Researchers in Sweden have found that large volumes of toxic fluoride gases will be emitted. The results of their report can be found here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319368068_Toxic_fluoride_gas_emissions_from_lithium-ion_battery_fires
All this makes it even more important to take smoke ventilation in car parks seriously. Adequate smoke ventilation can both remove toxic fumes and make the job of firefighting easier. The advent of larger numbers of electric cars is to be welcomed, but we must be ready for the consequences.
If you are currently working on a car park project that includes electric charging points, get in touch with us for a full and expert assessment of the smoke control requirements.