No, it’s just a regular suburb near Brisbane Australia. I have no idea where the nearest charging station is - or how one traverses the vast distances we have in Australia in an EV. Hybrid might work, I suppose.
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I understand the problem probably won’t come from Tesla, but it’s when car owners change components of the system and use cheaper Chinese products. I believe that’s what happened in the UK with electric scooters catching fire - killed 8 people and injured at least 190 since 2020. (Guardian newspaper). (Plus they were charging them close to the house or apartment.)
My friend’s Hyundai Kona (full EV, not hybrid) goes 450k on a full charge. I imagine that there are places with electricity within a distance that far in Oz?
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Lol, gas powered cars catch fire every day of the week. Not a single day goes by without a gas car catching on fire.
I offer a EV charger, its part of my property description even.
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THe difference is that fires in internal combustion cars tend to happen when they are driving and hot-hot-hot, whereas fires in EVs often happen while they’re charging…
… in the driveway
… beside the house
… at an Airbnb.
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Well, it looks like this is more serious than I thought!
Of course all should respect a Host who chooses not to permit EV charging.
It makes me wonder – and we’ve had posts about electric vehicles here – the safety of permitting guests to charge their EV with just a regular or even any extension cord (Level 1 charging).
One site says “as a general rule of thumb, you will need a 12-gauge [outdoor] extension cord for a standard 110-volt outlet and a 6-gauge extension cord for a 220-volt outlet.” Elsewhere the article says that the amperage of the cord must match that of the charger, 32 amps for Teslas, they say. So there’s that.
If a Host does allow Level 1 charging it would make sense either for the Host to figure out the type of cord needed (and supply it) or to require that the guest use the appropriate cord (whether it’s a charging cord or an extension cord)-- some manufacturers say it is not safe to use a typical home extension cord.
One source suggests using this charging cord, which is $250! Or if an extension cord is to be used, this Camco extension cord, which is closer to $150.
Yet some manufacturers say it’s not safe to use an extension cord at all.
The Host incurs risk either way but by providing the cord it’s more likely the guest will use it and damage less likely to result from using an improper cord. The Host should consider the path the cord will take from the outlet to the vehicle and whether it will create a trip hazard.
It looks like Australia has very specific requirements for EV charging (Level 2).
→ The takeaway for me is that a Host without a code-compliant EV charger (Level 2) might want to do some research before permitting guests to plug their vehicle into an outlet, might want to edit rules/confirmation messages, evaluate the safety issues and discuss the situation with their insurer including if EV charging is to be permitted who should provide the cord and what type, whether extension cords should be permitted.
If it were me I wouldn’t permit Level 1 charging for these safety reasons, and permit it only if I had a dedicated Level 2 charger. Even then, as @Pam1 is pointing out, there are risks, which I find acceptable but some might not.
Of course, some Hosts and guests will think this is all overkill. But in the end your property is on the line. Maybe also your neighbor’s.
This is a particularly popular forum for trolls today.
No, ‘authorities’ are not ‘doing everything they can to get people to switch to these dangerous vehicles.’ The changeover from fossil fuels and the demise of the internal combustion machine, I am sure, is, stressful, especially if your livelihood depends on selling gasoline, for example, but for me, change to renewable energy sources cannot come fast enough.
Just like the fear of people peeing into my shampoo, bottles keeps some folks from embracing a future with less petroleum products, this unfounded fear has no place in a host forum for Airbnb hosts.
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Oh dear. Calm down dear. I’m not disputing climate change. I’m merely interested in my personal safety and the safety of my property. I can see how this merges into bigger issues, but we are here to share issues of being hosts for short term rental.
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Yes. Thanks. I’m discovering that the issue, safety-wise, seems to be overnight charging, especially when it happens adjacent to a dwelling.
ha, hilarious. you want to turn this into a red/blue situation, like what happened during Covid, so that all real science could be blocked ?
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Sorry, YOU need to provide the ‘proof’. Telling folks to ‘search’ shows me that you have no ‘proof’ - asserting something without evidence is trolling.
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You are wrong about EV fires
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Hi @Pam1 ,
Are you talking about Level 1 charging – using your electrical outlets perhaps (and this is critical in my way of thinking) using an extension cord?
Or are you talking about using a Level 2 charger, which is dedicated for this sole purpose?
Because I’m with you in not permitting Level 1 charging.
Level 2 charging with a code-compliant charger seems to me to be an acceptable risk.
Everyone I know with EVs charges from a regular household plug with a proper heavy duty extension cord with no problems.
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I think the potential difference between the guest using an extension cord and a homeowner [and I know you didn’t say homeowner but I’m guessing that the ‘everyone you know’ persons are at their usual place of abode, which I’ll reference as ‘homeowner’] using an extension cord is:
– The ‘every person you know’ homeowner presumably knows their home and their vehicle, what the instructions say, and that ‘every person you know’ will bear the cost if they don’t follow those instructions and the worse happens.
– The ‘every person you know’ homeowner can have a proper (amperage or gauge might depend on the vehicle) heavy duty cord (if so permitted by their vehicle’s instructions) of a proper length, for their vehicle, and members of their household will presumably be accustomed to where the cord is positioned.
– The ‘every person you know’ homeowner might, when they first plugged in their EV, stuck around, felt the cord, felt the outlet (for heat), made sure everything seemed to be working before they left their home or went to sleep or whatever. Maybe the guest not so much.
– Unless a guest has brought such a ‘proper’ cord of the correct length, the guest might use an improper cord. It might be a matter of debate what the proper cord is.
– A guest might have a different risk tolerance than the ‘everyone you know’ homeowner or the Host. For example, a guest might choose to disregard the manufacturer’s directions on using an extension cord (thinking ‘What could happen?’ and probably nothing will happen depending on what’s used and the particular vehicle) but a Host might not be willing to take that chance. Plus, how can the Host know that the guest is using a proper cord?
– A guest’s household, being new to the listing, won’t be accustomed to the layout of the cord and could trip and fall because of it. [Trips and falls might not be litigated in Mexico but they are in the U.S., don’t know about Australia. Could the Host be held liable for not having suitable signage for the guest to use? I don’t know.]
– If damage or injury results, the guest won’t have to live with the damages; the Host will, including loss of income that might be covered by Proper insurance but not all policies.
– Ascertaining who is at fault might be difficult, impossible or costly. The Host could be held partially negligent, which might decrease recovery or perhaps even bar it in some jurisdictions. The Host or insurer could be incentivized to accept a partial settlement, given the costs.
– The Host’s insurance premium might increase or the Host’s listing might even become uninsurable.
It’s this kind of thought process that leads me, a risk-averse Host in the U.S., to conclude that I probably wouldn’t permit Level 1 charging. Or if I did it would only be after a lot of research and editing of the rules, communications, discussion with insurer.
I understand that it’s very unlikely for a fire to occur, but each of us, we’re a population of one. If that unlikely accident happens to us it could be catastrophic. Why do healthy 25-year olds buy life insurance? Because stuff happens, and sometimes it’s not wise to play the odds.
As EVs are going to become more and more common, it might be a good investment for hosts who have lots of guests who drive to the listings to purchase a proper EV charging extension cord.
And no, my friends with EVs (who, yes, are homeowners) do not “when they first plugged in their EV, stuck around, felt the cord, felt the outlet (for heat), made sure everything seemed to be working before they left their home or went to sleep or whatever.”
Well, we agree on this with a friendly edit.
I wonder if such a Host should have a proper EV charging cord – not an extension cord even of the one I listed above because some manufacturers say not to use one, and the Host couldn’t know in advance and keep up on which vehicles can use an extension cord and which the manufacturer says cannot.
As for your friends with EVs who do not stick around and make sure that all is working OK
well, they chose to take and live with the risk, but some Hosts might reasonably choose not to. Or, at the least, somehow test a first use case to make sure that everything seems to be working, consult with an electrician, and consider subscribing (U.S.) to Ting,
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And no one I know has had their gas-powered car catch on fire. No disrespect intended, but just because no one you know has had a problem doesn’t mean the problem isn’t real. Is it frequent enough to worry about? I think that’s what @Pam1 is thinking about.
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Yeah, and not just frequency but IF something happens, what could be the loss?
And for what upside?
There’ll come a time – and maybe at some places that that time is now – when the marketplace will expect EV charging (though I would think Level 2).
But until that time, some Hosts might decide to take their chances with Level 1 charging and letting a guest use an extension cord, but other Hosts might prohibit it or do what it takes to make sure it’s safe.
Some Hosts have a new or renovated place whose wiring they’re sure is up to today’s code. Others have a much older home, with intervening buyers who’ve done DIY electrical projects, Each Host might see the risk differently.
Absolutely something to consider. I ran a safety group in an oil refinery for a few years, and we always asked “how likely” and “how bad” about every scenario before we made any mitigation recommendations. Even extremely unlikely events would get some recommendations if the consequences were extreme.
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