The Malaysian fire and rescue department (JBPM) says it has drawn up guidelines for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations located within commercial premises. These have been submitted to the housing and local government ministry (KPKT) for evaluation, said JBPM operations director Datuk Ahmad Izram Osman.
He said the guidelines cover the application and approval procedures for the installation of EV charging stations both inside and outside buildings, taking into account fire safety aspects. He added that the guidelines are only meant for commercial premises and areas and does not involve residential locations.
He said that the department worked with the Malaysian architects association, the zero emission vehicle association (ZEVA) and various NGOs to complete it. “Among our recommendations are about the distance of vehicles from the entrance and exit of premises, the appropriate level of the building for installation, and several other aspects,” he told Bernama in an interview recently.
Ahmad Izram said the guidelines were needed to ensure EV charging would be as safe as possible, given the increase in points and installations. He said there are 1,063 public EV charging points nationwide at present, and the government is aiming to increase it to 10,000 by 2025.
He said that putting out an EV-related fire requires copious amounts of water, is time-consuming and has a higher risk of reigniting. Factors such as batteries, road conditions, the weather and charging stations are among the triggers that can cause EV fires.
“For example, road hazards such as heat or friction can cause a fire because an EV’s battery is located under the floor of the car. There can also be internal and external short circuits, overvoltage, overcharging, external heating and manufacturing defects, which can all increase the temperature, or even spread (the fire) to other vehicles,” he said.
He said that the department is also learning about how to best put out fires involving battery EVs (BEVs). “Hybrid vehicles use a battery and gasoline combination, but now we need to learn how to put out fires with vehicles that use only a battery.
“The extinguishing process for these requires the cooling method because they have a thermal runaway effect. If the fire is not cooled down quickly, it will spread. This is a different method than the one used for regular vehicles, where we usually use water depending on the situation, and it does not take long,” he said.
Ahmad Izram said that the fire department is currently using a conventional extinguishing medium, which utilises water and foam as well as special equipment such as special gloves. He said that all fire engines have been equipped with the special gloves since 2015, when hybrid vehicles were first introduced in Malaysia. He added that the department has continuously worked with suppliers of EV components to identify key elements of a vehicle to focus on in a fire.
He said the department has yet to receive any report of fires involving BEVs, but eight reports involving hybrid vehicles had been received this year as well an incident where four electric scooters caught fire in Kuala Lumpur in April, which spread to nine motorcycles.
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Quite frankly, I do think that these charging stations should not be allowed to be within basements of any building especially residentials.
Imagine a fire downstairs while you’re sleeping upstairs.
By the time you wake up, the only way to leave may be up and I don’t think there’s any way down considering the multiple storey condos now.
You better watch out. The EV fans will get butthurt by this statement
I don’t think they would get butthurt. I believe they value their lives as much as any of us. It’s a logical view which I believe they do agree with.
Having said that, there are already so many charging points in carparks and mall basements everywhere so a better safety precaution guideline is probably required for those.
How many reports of ev fire incidents happened at Dubai and Abu Dhabi?
everybody knows his rice bowl tied to o&g industry
Just don’t get EV brand from the land with average 7 EVs catching fire a day.
Agreed. That is why I never buy an EV from India. Too risky. Wai, India has no EV…hahahaha
Again plucked news from Falungong serpentza scmp provocateur agencies LOL
“He said that the department is also learning about how to best put out fires involving battery EVs (BEVs)”
I would suggest the JBPM to learn through National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in USA where they have multiple certifications and fire fighting programme including how to handle fire hazards of EV’s. One of the excellent usage to prevent thermal runaway is by using “fire blanket”. They can also checked in YouTube regarding fire blanket usage demonstration video on actual blazing EV.
no need to travel across Pacific Ocean to learn, nearest learning centre is South Corea is highly recommended
the percentage of EV cars catching fire is lower than petrol or diesel cars. so no need to worry la.
Data on fires per 100,000 vehicles – not that hard to research to get a benchmark:
EV: 25
ICE: 1,530
Hybrid: 3,475
People are generally more critical on new tech and the media likes to shine a spotlight on it. Hundreds of thousands of petrol cars catch fire but the media doesn’t cover it because it’s not newsworthy anymore.
People are generally resistant to change, give it time. More mature markets already have ~30% (and fast growing) EV adoption.
Most importantly, Bomba gets a cut of the profits.
Bomba getting a cut of what profit?
safety first
told yah… EVs need to come a with ‘Fire Warning’ sticker and owners need to have an extinguisher in the car just in case
If you all scread don’t buy EV car. Not people force you to buy. You petrol carl untill you dead. It calling small country. How to compare china? If like that don’t follow china market!
Agreed. That is why I never buy an EV from India. Too risky. Wait, India has no EV…hahahaha
EV is rather safe on paper. It is just that electrical fire with lithium battery is very hard to deal with. Plus there is an increased chance of spontaneous combustion of lithium battery due to our very hot and humid weather. Our very own climate might not be that suitable for EV compare to dryer and cooler countries.
There is also a concern about EV fire in our very congested parking lot/road.
One of the prime example is the a blaze at a six-storey car park an Echo Arena in Liverpool in 2017 that destroyed 1400 cars.
I like EV but I guess that I will let others do the test drive first.