"There is also a fire monitoring service that can be used for 10,000–20,000 won per month per electric vehicle. But when trying to install it with an expense shared by residents, residents who don't drive EVs push back, saying, 'Why should I pay?' In the end, the burden falls on EV owners."Professor Han Se-gyeong, Kyungpook National University Department of Electrical Engineering
Some say the government, which has supported the spread of electric vehicles and charging facilities, should also expand support for fire safety facilities. In particular, for existing apartment complexes that find it hard to move charging facilities above ground and are not fully subject to the strengthened fire standards applied to new buildings, the government should present standards for upgrading facilities. Experts proposed selectively supporting the most vulnerable complexes first by assessing underground parking structures and existing fire safety systems, rather than requiring the same facilities for every complex.
◇ Support for EV adoption, safety facilities at residents' expense
The government provides various subsidies for purchasing EVs and installing charging facilities. In contrast, support for fire detection and fire spread prevention facilities in existing multiunit housing has been limited to certain local government programs.
Seoul city last year, together with district offices, covered 50% of the installation expense for safety equipment for EV charging facilities in multiunit housing. The eligible items included integrated control systems, thermal imaging cameras, upward direct water supply devices, and fire detection systems using existing closed-circuit (CC)TV.
However, conflicts over cost sharing arise in multiunit housing that does not receive support. Residents who do not use EVs may oppose using common expenses for safety equipment installation, and plans to have only EV owners bear the expense also raise fairness concerns.
Professor Han Se-gyeong of Kyungpook National University's Department of Electrical Engineering said, "There is growing conflict where people say to move EVs out of the basement but are unwilling to shoulder the safety facility expense," adding, "Programs carried out by local governments need to be expanded to the national level." Han added, "Until EVs become fully mainstream, the state should support part of the expense to build safety infrastructure."
If the government expands support for safety facilities, the fiscal burden will vary greatly depending on the eligible recipients and equipment. The National Assembly Budget Office estimated that if the government supports 60% of the purchase expense of EV fire blankets for multiunit housing, an additional 38.2 billion–214.8 billion won would be needed from 2026 to 2030. Supporting complexes with up to 300 households would require 38.2 billion won, and expanding to those with up to 1,000 households would require 214.8 billion won.
Lee Mi-yeon, analyst at the National Assembly Budget Office's Estimation and Tax Analysis Office, said, "We should select firefighting facilities with a high cost-effectiveness for charging facility fires and design the eligibility criteria in detail by considering the fire vulnerability by installation location."
◇ "Standards for upgrading existing apartment facilities must come first"
Experts say standards for facility improvements applicable to existing apartments should be established before providing financial support. Although the government has released guidelines on responding to EV fires in multiunit housing, there is a lack of concrete standards on what facilities to reinforce and by how much, depending on each complex's conditions.
Many existing apartments find it difficult to move EV charging facilities above ground due to parking space and building structure. There are calls to present alternative safety measures—such as fire compartments, sprinklers, and smoke exhaust and detection systems—for complexes where moving above ground is not possible.
Gong Ha-seong, a professor in the Department of Fire and Disaster Prevention at Woosuk University, said, "Some apartments that cannot move charging facilities above ground don't know what to do and fail to draw up measures," adding, "The government should first establish standards for fire compartments, sprinklers, and smoke exhaust systems that vent toxic gases outdoors."
With unclear standards, some complexes give up on systematic facility upgrades. An official at a company related to EV fire equipment said, "It's hard to judge what facilities are needed, so some places just stock fire extinguishers labeled 'for EVs' instead of higher-priced equipment."
◇ Evaluate parking lot risk and support the most vulnerable complexes first
Facilities that can be considered in existing apartments include sprinklers, early detection and control systems, and smoke exhaust and ventilation systems. But installing the same facilities in every apartment complex makes it hard to reflect differences in layouts and existing systems, and the expense could rise.
The Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) Land and Housing Institute proposed grading EV fire safety in underground parking lots from level 1 to 5 by assessing the location and openness of the parking lot and access conditions for firefighters. Level 1 is the safest, and the closer to level 5, the more vulnerable the conditions are for firefighting.
Byun Wan-hee, research fellow at the LH Land and Housing Institute, said, "Parking lots at levels 1 and 2 can be addressed with minimal fire safety facilities, but from level 3 and below, there needs to be a separate list of required facilities for each level."
EVs and charging facilities grew rapidly with government support. But who installs fire safety facilities and how the expense is shared remain up to each apartment complex. A specialist in EV fire safety said, "Government policy so far has focused on increasing the number of EVs and chargers," adding, "Now we need to decide who is responsible for the safety of the charging facilities already installed and with what expense. Only then can the EV adoption policy be complete."