EV Charging in Car Parks: The Emerging Fire Risk That's Keeping Engineers Up at Night

As electric vehicle adoption accelerates across the UK, the fire risk posed by EV charging in enclosed car parks has become one of the most debated topics in fire engineering.. The Challenge Lithium ion battery fires differ fundamentally from conventional vehicle fires: Higher peak temperatures — up to 1,100°C Longer burn duration — hours with re ignition Toxic gas production — hydrogen fluoride Thermal runaway — cascading cell failure Emerging Best Practice Detection Linear heat detection above EV charging bays Gas detection for hydrogen fluoride Suppression High pressure water mist systems Dedicated water supply for prolonged suppression Ventilation Enhanced extraction rates — 1.5x BS 7346 7 rates Planning EV charging infrastructure? Contact us.