Amendments to the Australian Government’s National Building Code mean new developments must introduce electric vehicle charging regulations from October 2023.
The amendments to the rule mandate that developers make sure there is space for switchboards and EV chargers in new buildings: for 100% of parking space in apartment buildings, 10% of the space in office and retail stores, and 20% of space in other commercial buildings.
To support these changes, the government’s Australian Building Rules Board (ABCB) this week issued an advisory note to help builders meet the requirements in the safest way, following when participating Australian team EV FireSafe for instructions.
Recommendations – which you can read This – includes mounting of main isolating switch with clear sign; only install chargers with the Mark of Regulatory Compliance; store an emergency service pack in case of fire; deposit around the charger to avoid impact; and update the block plan.
It also recommends prioritizing so-called ‘smart charging’ that allows remote monitoring and access to disconnect power to a connected EV, providing emergency responders with “a potential shutdown method.” function from one device to the EV”.
“We believe that the recommendations outlined in this advisory note are low cost, low visual impact, easy to implement, and reflect better practices already adopted by many reputable vendors, ” note say.
“These recommendations will help reduce the risk of substandard equipment or installation practices emerging as the electric vehicle charging industry evolves.”
The council said it would “continue to work with other government agencies and emergency response agencies” to review the latest evidence on electric vehicle charging trends from around the world and update the latest developments. guidance in the near future.
ABCB CEO Gary Rake added: “Global evidence indicates that electric vehicles are much less likely to cause fires than traditional petrol and diesel vehicles.
“Based on knowledge gained from all over the world, our advisory note offers some really affordable and low-cost things we can do to make charging safer. safer for our buildings, residents and first responders.”
EV FireSafe maintains a verifiable database of passenger EV battery fires worldwide and tracks effective emergency response methods. A few interesting findings as of April 30 include:
- EV FireSafe has verified 375 electric vehicle battery fires and is investigating 87 more. To illustrate this context, more than 10 million electric cars were sold worldwide by 2022.
- About 18% of all electric vehicle battery fires occurred when the car was connected to the charger, another 5% were disconnected from the charger within 10 minutes of the fire.
- The main causes of heat escape and ignition or explosion in sequence are collisions and debris, OEM battery failure, water immersion, factory failure, arson, external fire, and overheating.
- 95 percent of EV battery fires are ignition events with a spark-like directional flame, the remaining 5 percent are gas-cloud explosions typically in enclosed spaces.
THAN: EV batteries rarely burn, but are on the Australian Government agenda
