- U.S. insurance provider State Farm has pulled EV chargers out of its parking garages at head office and satellite hubs
- The company cites “fire risks” that “cannot be mitigated at this time”
- So far, no alternatives have been identified for employees who previously charged their cars at work
State Farm, the largest auto and home insurance company in the U.S., has removed all electric vehicle (EV) chargers from its parking garages, citing concerns over fire risks. The decision, announced in late October and effective almost immediately after that, affects chargers at the company’s head office in Bloomington, Illinois; and at its hub locations across the country. State Farm does not operate in Canada.
In a message to its employees, the insurance giant said, “While we understand the impact to those who rely on EV charging, it is our top priority to ensure a safe and secure working environment for our employees. Following an Enterprise Risk Assessment and evaluations conducted by local fire departments and workplace protection in each hub and corporate headquarters, fire risks were identified in the parking garages that cannot be mitigated at this time.”
In a report to a local news agency, a State Farm representative confirmed that charging stations “housed within our parking garages will be closing,” and that “plans are in place to explore alternative charging locations outside of parking garages, including the possibility for EV parking.”
In August, some 55 Rivian electric vehicles were damaged by fire as they sat in a parking lot awaiting transport at the automaker’s factory in Normal, Illinois, about 4.8 kilometres (three miles) from Bloomington. There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Statistically, EVs are less likely to catch fire than those powered by gasoline, but when they do, they tend to burn fiercer and are more difficult to extinguish. According to the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services, it may take up to 150,000 litres (almost 40,000 gallons) of water to put out an EV fire, compared to 1,900 to 3,785 litres (500 to 1,000 gallons) to extinguish a fire in a conventional vehicle. We recently reported on a new material being developed by LG Chem that could help prevent battery fires by inhibiting internal overheating, but so far, it’s just in that development phase.
As with any fire, an EV in flames in a parking garage creates additional hazards for others in the building, including firefighters, as well as the potential for serious damage to the structure itself.
So far, there haven’t been any reports of other insurance companies pulling EV chargers from their facilities. And we’re also wondering if there’s any possibility that, in future, State Farm may start looking at its customers – specifically, those who have installed EV home chargers in their garages – and wonder if the same potential issues it has earmarked at its head office may be on its radar at the consumer level as well as at the corporate one.
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