NRMA insurance chief pushes for EV battery testing to be part of roadworthy checks after spate of fires

Electric vehicle batteries should be tested as part of compulsory roadworthy checks to improve safety and lift the uptake of EVs, according to the chief executive of one of Australia’s largest insurers.

NRMA Insurance chief Julie Batch said “busting EV myths” was critical if the nation wanted to encourage a more rapid transition to a greener fleet.

NRMA Insurance chief executive Julie Batch wants EV batteries to be tested as part of roadworthy checks. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

While EVs have consistently doubled their market share annually – rising from 1 per cent of new car sales in 2020 to 8.5 per cent in 2023 – it stagnated at 8.4 per cent this year. A Deloitte report, published in January, has projected 43 per cent of all new passenger vehicle sales in a decade will be EVs.

“We see a very similar sort of frequency of fires in cars in EVs as we do in ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles, however, when that battery does catch fire, the car is often damaged to a greater degree because the battery is that much bigger,” Batch said.

“What we’re asking for is that as part of the regular roadworthiness checks that batteries are comprehensively checked.”

There have been growing concerns about EVs catching alight as lithium-ion battery fires become an increasing problem for fire services around the world.

Fire and Rescue NSW said in a report, published in March, it attended 456 lithium-ion battery fires in 2022 and 2023 – a 66 per cent increase in incidents year-on-year. But only three involved electric vehicles, with the vast majority being electric bikes and scooters.

Meanwhile, EV FireSafe, funded by the Department of Defence, found as of June 2024, there were six EV battery fires in Australia out of more than 180,000 electric vehicles.

Batch said evidence showed EV fires were less common than people perceived, but introducing standardised battery testing and reporting would build long-term trust.

NRMA Insurance on Wednesday released its Changing gears: the road ahead for EV adoption in Australia report, which found only 20 per cent of Australians who were planning to buy a car in the next five years were considering an EV.

Batch said the report was designed to educate consumers to lift the uptake of EVs and help the nation meet its climate change goals.

She has also called for better policies and incentives to develop a second-hand EV market to ensure the vehicles are affordable for a broader range of people. Only three EV models cost less than $40,000.

Currently, the biggest EV uptake is among households with an income greater than $200,000.

“I was in the US about a month ago, actually talking to some of the insurers in California – and California is considered a progressive state – it’s got 18 per cent penetration of EVs in the Californian market,” Batch said.

“And even in that market, the second-hand market is really small because these cars have not got to a point … where people are changing them over regularly, and so that is also affecting the price point.”

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