Electric Vehicles Not Allowed to Park

A man taking his son to a medical appointment at a UK hospital was recently turned away from their car park because he was driving an electric car.

He was told there was a temporary ban on EVs because of the fire-risk. Whilst data suggests not necessarily more likely to catch fire, electric vehicle fires are much harder to extinguish and more easily spread to nearby vehicles or structures.The electric car ban was on the advice of Merseyside Fire and Rescue until the hospital completed an upgrade of their fire sprinkler system.

South Korea Bans Electric Vehicles Above 90% from Underground Car Parks

In another case, South Korean officials have banned electric vehicles charged above 90% from entering underground car parks. This followed a fire involving an EQE Mercedes which caused damage to an apartment block and destroyed hundreds of cars. However, battery specialists say excessive charging is not proven to be the governing factor with lithium-ion batteries in vehicle fires.

Data confirms electric vehicles do not catch fire at excessive rates compared to petrol driven cars, but lithium-ion battery fires are more intense and harder to extinguish. Severity, not the likelihood is the main risk with vehicle battery fires.