Owners of electric vehicles in Maui burned areas should contact county to keep batteries

Owners of electric vehicles that were within burned areas during the Aug. 8 — and who donʻt want their batteries removed by specialized teams with the US Environmental Protection Agency — need to contact the Maui County Abandoned Vehicles and Metals Office by Nov. 6.

The battery removal is being done as part of debris management. It is likely that the electric vehicle battery is compromised if it was exposed to the wildfire heat, according to officials.

Electric vehicle owners who donʻt want batteries removed must contact the Abandoned Vehicles and Metals Office via https://link.edgepilot.com/s/00222a11/BkyXd09pn0_QkLCJQUrYUA?u=https://www.mauirecovers.org/damagedvehicles or call 808-270-6102.

The Nov. 6 deadline applies to owners who:

• Had an electric vehicle that was in a burn zone during the fire AND
• Who have not, or will not, file an insurance claim AND
• Whose vehicle remains on either public or private property in the burn zones AND
• Who do NOT want their electric vehicle battery removed