Column: EV fire risk, dealership design and insurance costs

I was getting a tour through a 12-bay service area under construction at a highly successful family-owned dealership in the Chicago area for another story this week when it struck me: the super tall roof; the open, barnlike design; a single exterior loading door.

There weren't any toolboxes against the walls or massive lifts installed yet, and it was all so white and clean and tidy — just a big open space where well-cared-for technicians will soon be able to work in the comfort of air conditioning, the dealer principal explained proudly.

But given the story I'd just finished about serious new recommendations from property and casualty insurance provider Zurich Insurance Group on the steps dealers need to take to reduce their exposure to fires from working on electric vehicles, I didn't have the heart to tell my host that his multimillion-dollar new facility might be all wrong.

That single big door, which has been a staple of dealership service area design for years to allow center loading of bays — and lets face it, reduced construction and operational costs — might make it harder for firefighters to get direct access to a thermal runaway fire in one of the far bays. The high ceiling means that the sprinkler heads would be farther from potential flames near the floor, spreading out their spray and limiting their effectiveness.

"I bet your techs will think that air conditioning feels great," I told him during the tour, supplementing the thought silently in my head with "so long as nothing happens."

We all live with risk, all day, every day — when we drive, when we cut the grass, when we hike or bicycle, even when we sleep. As a child, you fear what might happen, and sometimes that fear can be debilitating. As an adult, you learn not only how to live with it, but how to manage it, how to reduce your exposure to risk by adjusting your behavior or taking precautions. Those precautions may not prevent something injurious or damaging from happening, but they can mitigate the damage when something bad does.

In business, that's what insurance is: life's bicycle helmet and safety glasses, a way to prepare for unforeseen bad things and a way to recover quickly when they happen. EVs being worked on in dealer service areas will catch fire — as the photo on the cover of this week's issue demonstrates — just as combustion-vehicle fires occur. What insurance companies such as Zurich are trying now to figure out is what will happen when they do, how frequently it will occur, and how best to help their clients and shareholders keep the damage to a minimum.