Debated in Parliament on 16 Oct 2024.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Transport whether there is any requirement for all EV charging stations to be insured against fire and damage to the building housing them and surrounding cars.
Mr Speaker, Sir, the hon Member Mr Lim Biow Chuan may be happy to note that the electric vehicle charging operators (EVCOs) are required to maintain a public liability insurance policy which covers personal injury, death or damage to property of third persons arising from EV charging operations, including from fire incidents, with a minimum coverage of $2 million per occurrence.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan.
Sir, I understand that there was some concern by drivers about the safety of EVs after the fire involving EVs in Seoul in August. Sir, may I ask the Minister of State, in addition to insurance, would there be other safety requirements like the installation of sprinklers or the provision of fire extinguishers near EV charging points, so as to give assurance to other car drivers that their vehicles parked next to an EV charging station would be safe?
The other question, if I may ask the Minister of State, is whether the insurance just covers the owners of the car park, primarily the Housing and Development Board (HDB), or would it also cover managers of the car park, like Town Councils?
Mr Speaker, Sir, I appreciate the hon Member Mr Lim's concern about safety arising from the Seoul incident that he mentioned.
In relation to the coverage of the insurance policy, as I mentioned in my answer to the hon Member Mr Lim just now, it is a third-party public liability insurance policy. So, it covers not only damage to property – and the Member mentioned HDB – it also covers personal injury and damage to other third parties as well. So, that is the ambit of the policy.
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