Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Risk

Hazard picture

Charging infrastructure transfers high power through connectors and cables that are mechanically stressed daily, and is frequently installed in underground or covered parking areas with limited smoke extraction. A thermal event in the vehicle battery during charging, a short circuit in the charging station, or an overload of the upstream electrical installation can spread quickly to neighbouring vehicles and the building fabric. Inadequate load management concepts also lead to underestimating the actual connected load.

Protective measures

Key measures are a code-compliant electrical design including residual current protection and load management, structural separation or adequate spacing between charging bays to limit fire spread, and fire detection - and where warranted suppression - adapted to the hazard potential in enclosed car parks. Maintenance schedules for charging stations and connectors reduce the risk of gradual contact damage.

Insurance relevance

For property and electronic equipment insurers, the combination of high charging power and confined parking environments is a risk factor requiring separate assessment for new installations and retrofits of existing buildings. Missing load management concepts or insufficient clearance to combustible building elements are treated as aggravating factors in risk assessment.