If the batteries being recharged are damaged by sudden changes in voltage, who pays? Does the insurance cover the damage? Claudio asks us, who had to replace his service battery after a heavy storm. Send the questions to info@vaielettrico.it.
“VI’d like to ask a question that I think could be useful to many electric car owners like me.
Two weeks ago, following a storm and hail with a whirlwind, in the metropolitan city of Portogruaro (VE) with consequent continuous disconnections of the electric current, there was damage to multiple electronic equipment to various families including myself.
It happened to me with the service battery
Can extreme weather events cause damage to the batteries of electric cars being recharged due to sudden changes in voltage on the grid?
It must be said that many of the damages suffered are compensated by the various insurance companies if a contract has been stipulated.
But if the battery of the electric car, both the service and the traction battery, gets shorted and damaged, who pays???
In my case, I had damage to the service battery of my electric car which was charging at the time of the event, and which was rendered unusable and no longer usable (check carried out at the dealer who replaced it), despite having 2 policies, one which protects the home and its contents from electrical phenomena, and one with the car company insured with atmospheric agents, both insurance companies replied that electrical damage to the car battery due to atmospheric agents or voltage surges is not covered rcibili.
Two electrical damage policies, nobody paid
But then I wonder: considering the frequency of these storms and/or whirlwinds with related sudden changes in voltage and continuous disconnections of the current, if a battery or any component of the car goes short when it is in charge, WHO PAYS??? PANTS??
Is it possible that there is no way to insure such damage?„ Claudio
Everything can be insured, but it is expensive
Answer- London insurers use to say that everything can be insured with Lloyd’s; it’s just a matter of price.
Vaielettrico has published, for example, the news of a Piedmontese insurance group, Us Assicurazioniwhich launched a Kasco policy on automotive batteries.
However, these are tailor-made products that go beyond standard damage policies. And the case in question is certainly beyond the standards.
Damage that can happen if something goes wrong
Is it a frequent accident? What protections do electric car batteries have? We asked the engineer Michael PenneseHead of E-Mobility Project del Bonfiglioli Group, who kindly replied as follows:
Michael Pennese
«Each manufacturer adopts the solutions it deems most suitable to guarantee the functionality and safety of the entire electric power line, from the battery to the engine, including the auxiliary devices (DCDC, OBC, A/C,..).
There are reference standards for the design and for electromagnetic compatibility and immunity tests, which must be carried out on systems, subsystems, electronic components and finally the entire vehicle, in order to guarantee correct electrical insulation. In the electric propulsion system, a physical interface is adopted for the implementation of the power lines, normally referred to as PDU (Power Distribution Unit) or Junction Box, which, through high voltage switches (Power Contactors, in Italian contactors, which some readers confuse and call meters) and high voltage fuses, which allow the voltage to and from the traction battery to be transferred in a protected manner.
Car batteries (and columns) have protection
I am aware of some cases of damage to traction batteries caused by Malfunctioning charging stationswhich lead the cells to discharge abnormally: this is not a electromagnetic problemBut say electronic management of the BMS.
What happened to the reader, on the service batteryis attributable to one electrostatic discharge which may have moved through some point of the bodywork and having reached the terminals of the same, in the presence of high humidity: a phenomenon that would happen even if the engine was endothermic. In fact, I understand that the high-power grid has not suffered any malfunction.
Even the charging stations are activated by power contactors and protected by fuses. Also the Mode 3 charging with Type 2 socket it is managed through analog and digital signals on two specific pins of the connector (PP and PE).
2023-07-22 16:52:53
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