How Charging an Electric Vehicle can Cause Garage Fires
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- Discover the alarming truth about the relationship between bad home wiring, charging electric vehicles and garage fires in this eye-opening video. Join me as we unveil the risks posed by faulty electrical installations and learn how to protect your property and loved ones. Don't let preventable disasters strike - stay informed and keep your home safe. Subscribe now and prioritize safety!
I know this is a fire channel, and not an electrician channel but since 99% of your videos are EV related i think itd be prudent to mention what people should use to avoid fires. Ive seen MANY examples of licensed electricians installing a home depot leviton outlet and then they melt. If you have an EV, and are doing level 2 make sure you have at least a 50 amp GFCI breaker (40 amp max continuous), 6/3 romex (or 6 awg in conduit), and an INDUSTRIAL grade outlet like a Hubbell 9450a NEMA 14-50 outlet. If you look at the manual for a Tesla they recommend industrial grade, everything you find at home depot is residential grade.
This is not just a fire issue bud. It's along the entire stream to include the NEC. Great comments
Two issues worth mentioning:
1. Flammable materials in garages augmenting the fire. Plastics (garbage cans, trash bags, etc.) Solvents, fuels for equipment, and paint thinners.
2. EV's of the 90's used lead-acid batteries. The problem with them was the weight reduced energy efficiency and limited range. Otherwise, the vehicles nor their chargers didn't catch fire.
Same as golf carts and other battery-powered vehicles/motorized equipment.
The problem with lithium-ion batteries is one of the cells can be damaged or receive overcurrent as opposed to the remaing cells. This can start the fire. As the fire burns the cell, its stored energy and the fire's heat is transferred to other cells. This causes a chain reaction which unleashes large amounts of energy into the fire, increasing its intensity and as a byproduct, spreading the fire.
The cost of house insurance will inevitably increase massively for anyone owning an electric vehicle .
Some landlords in the UK now ban all but phone charging. A bike battery blew up while being charged overnight and did a lot of damage to two apartments.
@@CosmicSeeker69 That is a good thing that landlords do, id be worried living next door to owner occupiers .
One thing you didn't mention is that, in general, loads that are meant to stay on for extended periods can only draw 80% of the maximum supply power. A device like a hair dryer will only be on for a few minutes, so it can draw 1.9Kw. But a space heater may be on for hours, days, or even indefinitely, so it can only dray 1.5Kw. EVs are the same, they don't draw 1.9Kw from a level 1 charger, and that's precisely to avoid situations like the ones described above.
My target is firefighters, I don't want to get too far into the details. You are absolutely right and things like space heaters cause fires for the same reasons mentioned in this video.
Yup, by NEC, standard-abiding installations and appliances aren't supposed to pull more than 80% of the plug/outlet's rated current on a continuous basis. Also, since the delineation between L1 and L2 is plugged-in vs wired-in, L1 can technically go up to 9.6kW on a 50A/240V circuit and plug.
Watching your video again.
Good idea to make sure the home wiring can carry the current needed to charge an EV. Otherwise the wiring may overheat, degrading the insulation and start a house fire. Then the house fire takes the EV with it, and not the other way around.
Thanks again.
Charging a Chevy Bolt has 2 level one settings. In default, it will draw 8 amps, which is ~960 watts, similar to a space heater on low. This is the maximum continuous draw you want on 14 gauge wire. Even though that wire is rated, and fused at 15 amps, I'm with you...I don't recommend anywhere near that amount of current continuous. The level one charge can be set to 12 amps, 1,440 watts, similar to the space heater turned on high. While still within the rating of a 14 gauge cable, I wouldn't recommend this as a continuous load. Keep in mind, this is a 65 kWh battery! If fully discharged, it could take almost 2 days to fully charge at 12 amps, and 2-1/2 days to charge at 8 amps. An extension cord, particularly a long one, has enough voltage drop, to cause the charger to Err. The car may not even charge, because the charge controller would sense too low voltage.
All too often, the wiring in a house runs through insulated walls, making it difficult to dissipate heat. At least, an extension cord is out in the open, where it can get airflow to cool. For that reason, I would only charge a car, if I KNOW that the house is wired in 12 gauge wire, where the current is low enough, that the wire won't heat up despite being installed in insulated walls. (20 amp commercial outlet recommended)
Never charge car inside garage instead do it outside
I made sure I have a separate circuit and fuse for mine including making sure main supply cables where larger than required
Thank you for the very nice video covering important topic! 👍
Good information and advice 👍
Glad it was helpful!
Fantastic content! Very educational
Dec 17th 23. GMAN YT channel. According to neighbours an EV that was towing a boat pulled into a beachside home and was put on charge burned the 2 year old home to the ground - and severely damaged the next door property. Was it thermal runaway or salt water in the batteries - or indeed a combination no one knows yet.
Great info, thanks!
Thank you for the very nice video covering important topic! . This channel seems pretty cool. Sub'd!.
This channel seems pretty cool. Sub'd!
Thanks.
Why would I want to add to my already high electric bill, then have the risk of burning my house down, not buying an EV!
The Chevy volt is to electric vehicles as the Ford pinto was to gasoline vehicles in the 70s.
Out of all the EVs, the Volt had a smaller battery and very few issues.
EV charging at 30 amps is like A/C, electric stove or small welder. It will add to the grid load because the non-charging world won't quit.
1:20 220v 30-100 amp (100 amp very unlikely) , so basically the same power my electric stove uses, electric heater, electric dryer and power tools like compressor, table saw and router. All of which we had since the 70s. So yeah build things properly or bad things happen, the reverse it also true, build it well and it will last without issue. This has been true since BEFORE EVs, just thought I'd point that out. Also if you DON'T buy an EV, but have to switch your gas stove and water heater to electric or add a pool with 220v service for pumps you have to watch out for same issues!
The Ford Lightning charger requires a dedicated 100 amp circuit.
Your power tools, stove, dryer, etc do not put a continuous load for 6+ hours. They only run for relatively short times and as such usually have residential grade outlets. It is not advisable to just plug into a dryer outlet in your garage without first making sure you have upgraded the outlet to an industrial grade one, a proper breaker, and ensure your wiring is of the right gauge. Even then, you have to also take into consideration that for continuous loads you must downrate to 80% of the breaker rating, meaning the max amperage you'd want to charge from a 50 amp breaker is 40 amps.
Is there a way a qualified electrician can test an EV charger installation in an older home to make sure there are no problems? If I talk to an electrician, what should I ask for?
Ask him to talk you out of an electric car, there is no safe way.
They should be able to inspect what is there. Ideally, they would install a new circuit.
@@petebusch9069 delete your comment
@@ironmatic1 Oh your one of them who obsesses with silencing people, is Hitler a relative?
If you install a new circuit it shouldn’t matter that the house is old.
As an aside to your piece on vehicle charging installations may I add the following:
My UK home supply is rated at 230 volts and 60 amps.
We considered an EV but thought that "home charging" overnight was not an option. [Due to power drawn to provide enough range for my journeys]
We have a portable Ecoflow back up system [for the fridge, freezer and lighting plus IT], which when we recharge is limited to 400 watts. Like the EV zealots would say, "you need to plan". I'd rather recharge the cells slowly for their cyclic health and also not stress the electrical installation. 230 volts at about a half an amp is, to me, sensible.
If the power supply is very variable then we might change the current draw, whilst the going is good, but that would be exceptional circumstances, wouldn't it?
Keep up the good work.
This is mild EV Hating but it is good information for EV owners to take note of. EVs are good though they require cognitive understand that there are differences to adhere to
There are 'NOT'! a lot of EV fire in comparison to Gas vehicles though as a fireman it would seem so also EV fires are more news worthy
Being careful where you plug in your EV in your garage and how you change it is simular to being careful about idling your gas car in your garage, both can be dangerous
There is no hate on EVs. My content is geared towards firefighters. Firefighters need to be prepared for the challenges. Yes, ICE vehicles catch on for more frequently, but there are many more on the road. The ICE vehicles that catch fire are typically 10+ years old. EV fires are typically newer vehicles. My next video will be on the statistics.
@@StacheDTrainingEV 25.1 fires per 100,000 sales. That's compared to 3,474 hybrid fires and 1,529 ICE fires per 100,000 sales respectively so I agree that EV does can be traumatic but far less frequent (60x so). This assumes that it is an EV for and not a house for caused by an egg on a poorly protected circuit.
@crumbschief5628 this video is purely about poor wiring. I have a video in process on exactly the status you mentioned. Hopefully it'll be live this weekend.
@@StacheDTraining it just paints such a bleak picture of ev's being a fire hazard in your videos.
@@jemima_brown the figures are from NTSB report in the US. I am not knowledgeable of the controls for reporting, I just see it as a good comparative statistic
Very interesting and informative. I was considering a hybrid. I will stick to my Turbo diesel, and stay out of the experiment.
Do ev car drivers pay any road taxes for maintenance of roads? No they do not!
In Georgia they are taxed over $200 per year and many other states have yearly fees as well. A hidden cost no one mentions.
We do in Missouri.
My California EV registration is more than my ICE vehicle.
It’s estimated that 19 car fires occur every hour in the United States, accounting for every 1 in 8 calls fire departments respond to. Nearly 25% of vehicle fires are caused by equipment failure or a heat source in the car.
Since 2012, car manufacturers have recalled over 9.5 million cars due to defective parts that can cause a fire.
Germans when they see and hear how flimsy US electrical stuff is: 🙈
Level 2 is 240 volts. No such thing as level 3, it’s officially called DCFC.
220v/240v, splitting hairs. Most projects I've worked on the meter will measure 220v (each leg at 110v).
Level 3, DC Fast Charger, Supercharger, pop, soda - all terms for the same thing.
www.caranddriver.com/research/a41803552/ev-charging-levels/
@@StacheDTraining not an official IEEE term
@@appleiphone69 that's why I'm a Mechanical Engineer 😉
Some do call them Level 3, what confused me is saying they are three phase. As far as I understand level 3 (DCFC) are DC, so no phases at all.
@@JoelShapiro The 3 phase AC power is the input into the charger from the power grid.
so electric cars are a big no no
* lithium-ion batteries in EV's. EV's of the 90's used lead-acids. No EV fires then.
EVs are hazardous and dangerous. They should all be banned, and their owners fined at least a years worth of wages - for EACH EV.
I gave this a thumbs up because I believe the future fuel is hydrogen.
And not green; that energy comes from somewhere.
@@christinecortese9973 what? not nuclear?? LOL