Specific new fire risks of electric vehicles require new approaches to prevention, detection and extinction. Garage parking fires cited include Liverpool UK 2017 and Stavanger Norway 2020. These fires showed that fire can spread to an additional vehicle every 30 seconds and led to destruction of hundreds of vehicles and of the building. Fires in EVs in garages can result from battery failures or short-circuits during charging. At temperatures above 70°C the highly-flammable electrolyte in EV batteries starts to evaporate and, if it escapes from the battery cell, can ignite or explode. EV fires pose particular problems because batteries can reignite. Fire fighter vehicles are often too high to access garage buildings. Siemens underlines the need to update safety standards for garages housing increasing numbers of EVs and to deploy new fire detection technologies and rapid fire suppression systems.
“Fire safety in parking garages with electric vehicles”, White Paper, Siemens and Danfoss Fire Security, 2023, International Fire Safety Journal 11/8/2023 https://internationalfireandsafetyjournal.com/siemens-unveils-new-whitepaper-on-fire-safety-in-parking-garages-with-electric-vehicles/