Forty-seven residents at Fairview Lifestyle Village have got into a row with management over the decision to ban new residents from bringing their electric cars to the Albany property. Photo / Raphael Franks
Forty-seven residents at Fairview Lifestyle Village have got into a row with management over the decision to ban new residents from bringing their electric cars to the Albany property. Photo / Raphael Franks
A gated retirement village on Auckland’s North Shore has banned electric cars because of “safety”, but affected residents have slammed the policy as “silly” and “unreasonable”.
Forty-seven residents at Fairview Lifestyle Village have got into a row with management over the decision to ban new residents from bringing theirelectric cars to the sprawling Albany property.
One resident, who did not want to be named, told the Herald he was pulled into a meeting with other residents, where management “tried to scare us to death” about the supposed fire risk electric vehicles posed.
“They felt that electric vehicles – the whole setup, vehicles, the chargers, the equipment associated with it – were hazardous in the extreme and would burn buildings down.
“So they had a couple of presentations where they tried to scare us to death with pictures of cars and flames and things like that.”
He said management had also tried to “retroactively impose” the policy on existing residents. Since complaints were lodged and a mediation process was started, residents have been left waiting for a resolution.
Fairview Lifestyle Village has “introduced a policy for electric vehicle safety”, management says. Photo / Raphael Franks
“The conditions... seem to us to be unfair and unreasonable in anybody’s interpretation.
“The suggestion is, with a village full of elderly residents who can’t flee, they’re going to have 120 people burnt to a crisp.
“But you look around at the modern car market and the rate at which electric vehicles are coming in, it’s just stunning, and if they were a worldwide hazard that burst into flames and destroyed communities, we’d know about it, but it’s just not there.”
Several electric vehicle fires have been in the press recently, including a blaze that engulfed an electric bus and killed the driver on Tāmaki Drive after a crash with a car in Auckland last month.
A spokesperson for Fire and Emergency later confirmed the fire started in the car’s engine.
Bus operator Kinetic said an investigation found the batteries in the bus were undamaged and not a factor in the blaze.
Another fire in October, in a Whangārei carpark, involved 30 cars going up in flames, including several electric vehicles.
Fire investigator Jason Goffin said it was most likely an accidental fire, from a hot exhaust pipe igniting the grass in the centre of the carpark.
The affected resident at Fairview also questioned how realistic such a policy was, given the increasing sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
However, he said management “just says no” when disgruntled residents present their argument.
Management at Fairview Lifestyle Village told the Herald, via a public relations company, it had “introduced a policy for electric vehicle safety” and said it came after consulting residents.
“The policy is currently subject to a mediation process and the village is unable to provide further detail at this stage,” the village said.
The Herald understands the policy was put in place before March this year. A village newsletter issued then thanked residents for their feedback since the policy had come into effect.
Management did not respond to the Herald’s questions about whether the policy covers electric mobility scooters or other electric vehicles.
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the cause of both the Tāmaki Drive and Whangārei carpark fires was unknown. The story has been updated to make it clear neither were caused by electric vehicles.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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