Emma SutcliffeFire safety for EV charging sites - online course launched
Our research found a third of all EV battery fires occur at EV charging hubs. This knowledge gives charging site owners an opportunity to consider emergency response prior to installing EV charging units.
Key points:
Some risk can be mitigated using a three step process that we've explained in the EV Fire Safety for Charging Sites short course.
The course takes 20 minutes to complete & provides a free downloadable checklist for EV site owners & managers.
It's also been peer reviewed by Australian fire agencies & is suitable for Australian & international site owners.
One of the key questions our research sought to determine was how many electric vehicles catch fire while at EV charging stations & what additional risks does this present to emergency responders?
We found approximately a third of EV battery fires occur while the vehicle is connected to energised charging, or within minutes of it being disconnected.
This is not necessarily due to the act of charging; it's more that EVs - by their very nature - spend significant time charging up at a home using a powerpoint &/or a dedicated private or public charging unit.
Jump straight to our EV Fire Safety for Charging Sites online course.
A third of all EV battery fires occur while the vehicle is connected to AC or DC EV charging
You may have noticed AC (slower) & DC (faster) EV charging hubs are being installed in the places you live, work & play. This charging infrastructure is vital to supporting a transition to low-emission transport.
While this may seem concerning, EVs are inherently safe & far less likely to catch fire when compared with internal combustion engine vehicles.
However, when they do occur, they present new risks & challenges for emergency responders who are faced with the combination of an electric vehicle lithium ion battery fire & the potential of an energised electrical fire.
Data-driven knowledge gives us an opportunity to consider EV fire safety at charging hubs
This data is particularly helpful for the owners & managers of sites where public EV charging is being, or has been, installed.
To make it as easy as possible for sites to better understand EV battery fires & to provide information that can be rolled in to an emergency management plan, we've built a short online course called EV Fire Safety at Charging Sites & you can preview one of the videos below.
In the course we'll cover:
a look at the number of electric vehicles coming to market in Australia & around the world
the types of electric vehicles available
how many EV battery fires we've been able to find through our research
the signs of thermal runaway (& what it is!)
how charging units behave when an EV catches fire while connected
a three step process to keep your site as safe as possible
a look at suppression products coming to market
and provide you with a downloadable checklist & links to free resources. You can also join our mailing list so we can keep you updated with the latest testing & information as it becomes available.
Short, video-based, affordable...& you can ask as many questions as you like
The EV Fire Safety at Charging Sites should take you around 20 minutes to complete, so it's easy to fit into your day.
There is a small cost to complete the course, which pays for video & course production & helps us continue our important research.
If you have questions about the course, you can contact our team via the contact page. We welcome questions about EV charging site safety as it helps us continuously improve the course to benefit site owners, EV drivers & emergency responders.
We'll provide updates as we continue with testing & research throughout 2022 & beyond
Throughout 2022, we'll be collaborating with emergency fire agencies to undertake testing & to better understand the risks of EV battery fires at charging hubs.
If you'd like to keep up to date, we welcome you to join the mailing list where all information is shared first. You can also join us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube.
Thanks for supporting our website & research.