Electric cars not allowed at park home site.

clive0510

I live in a park home on a residential site. All the residents here have been furnished with a letter informing us that all electric vehicles are to be excluded from the site, due to the fire risk. My take on that, is that given the governments big push to promote electric vehicles, we eventually will not be able to have a car. I'm just wondering if there are any other park home owners on here, and if so are you faced with the same dilemma?

Keep_pedalling

I just think the owners are being idiots and I doubt whether this is a common attitude among site owners. 

Brie

So this is a change to the T&Cs that we agreed when you moved there? 

I wonder what would happen if you owned an EV and were now being told you could no longer use your parking space.  Personally it sounds legally unenforceable. 

But I am neither an EV owner or a park home resident.

DE_612183

I presume this is to do with charging the cars on site - perhaps the electrical load creates the fire hazard?

Have the site owners given reasons - could be insurance as well...

clive0510

Thanks for the replies. Apparently the board have made this decision on the fire officers advice. And also the company;s insurance company would not cover the park in the event of a fire caused by a  lithium battery on an electric car, the board feel there is no other option. 

Car_54

Maybe I'm being dim, but in the very unlikely event of a fire, how could the park be held responsible?

Mr.Generous

Car_54 said:

Maybe I'm being dim, but in the very unlikely event of a fire, how could the park be held responsible?

When the whole park burnt down they might feel a hint of regret.

clive0510

Car_54 said:

Maybe I'm being dim, but in the very unlikely event of a fire, how could the park be held responsible?

Regardless of who would be responsible in the event of a fire, I do think our board of directors here have taken this decision on the basis of prevention is better than cure. 
having said that none of this solves the core problem of no one on this site being able to own a car in the not to distant future. 

born_again

Go back & argue that the risk of fire is far higher in petrol/diesel cars. Are they going to ban them as well?

Just one of many sources.

https://www.bedsfire.gov.uk/safety/electric-vehicles

Data obtained by Air Quality News through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that in 2019 the London Fire Brigade dealt with just 54 electric vehicle fires compared to 1,898 petrol and diesel fires.

Mildly_Miffed

clive0510 said:

Thanks for the replies. Apparently the board have made this decision on the fire officers advice. And also the company;s insurance company would not cover the park in the event of a fire caused by a  lithium battery on an electric car, the board feel there is no other option. 

Will they also be excluding hybrids?

How about other lithium cells, such as powertools and rechargeable torches and mobile phones and laptops?

I think I'd be asking to see the "fire officer's advice" and the "insurer's refusal" in writing...
...or just accepting that the owners of the park are idiots, and selling.

letom

This is probably another reason why EVs will likely not be the mode of transport for the future, an EV fire is incredibly difficult to put out.

When an EV fire starts and the cells go into thermal runway you can't just put it out, you essentially have to wait for it to burn itself out, though they can even reignite after weeks as damaged battery cells can catch fire.

Therefore the scale of damage of one EV is significantly higher than an ICE which unlike a EV reacts more positively to water being used to put it out. Many countries are bringing in certain protocols to deal with EV fires e.g. recovered vehicles being placed in isolated areas for weeks after the fire (someone has to pay for this). If you're an insurer 1 EV fire is therefore quite expensive. Think about it, tiny electric scooter batteries are bringing down entire houses, imagine an underground car park full EVs and all those batteries.