Some Risks From Hosting EV Charging Stations

There are many reasons for commercial property owners, operators, and developers to look at including electric vehicle charging. Increasingly, EVs grow as a part of auto sales in the U.S. That means tenants and their customers or guests will need accommodations.

When adding charging, there are many things to consider: space, costs, installation, power supply, number of parking spaces to convert. But there is more.

Insurance and risk management company Chubb sent over a document with a list of seven new risks that come with EV chargers. It’s self-serving ultimately, because it is in the business of providing insurance and other services to property owners, but still worth considering, because each of the scenarios is reasonable and easily understood:

• Installer injuries — people installing heavy physical equipment could get injured. Additionally, the power requirements are hefty. Such electrical circuitry could result in shocks, burns, and even lift-threatening executions. • Collisions — any time people are behind the wheel of a vehicle, there is a chance of a collision. Not only might they hit another car, they could run into chargers, according to Chubb’s internal claims data. • User error — Some portion of people will inevitably misuse the chargers or even do badly trying to park their cars in and around the chargers. • Software errors — software drives the chargers and lots of things can go wrong with the technology. “The driver can then encounter blank screens, failed credit card payments, aborted charging sessions, and electric current that ebbs and surges unpredictably,” the company wrote. • Vandalism and theft — apparently people have cut thick copper charging cables and sold the metal as scrap, which seems to go for about $3 a pound. Plus, vandalism of anything is always a possibility. • Fire — Chubb argues that there have been cases where a charger caught fire. Some of these seem to be over the top. Like EV charger fires. Chubb mentioned one case from 2018. According to Autoweek, in general, the number of fires per 100,000 sales of EVs was lower than gas cars (1529.9 per 100,000), or hybrids (3474.5 per 100,000). That’s not the same as talking about chargers but seems like it would be related. And with only one example, maybe Chubb couldn’t find enough evidence of a general problem with EV chargers.

The issue of copper theft received a lot of attention years ago, but the price was even higher then. Is it a problem? But a review starting back at least in 2008, there are legitimate media stories about ongoing copper theft, so maybe it does happen.

The other events seem at least possible. How likely are they? Impossible to know without some serious analysis by actuaries at insurance companies. But the larger point is that when you do something new, there will be potential unintended consequences.