25/8/2025
The SPARKLE project, for Safe PARKing for all recent vehicLEs, brings together the expertise of leading French organizations to propose a standardized national methodology based on a full-scale joint testing program involving recent electric and internal combustion vehicles in parking structures and supported by numerical simulations.
Led by the CNPP, the project partners with Efectis France, CTICM, and Ineris to carry out this work. A four-party agreement was signed between the entities in June 2025 to formalize joint actions and initiate the search for sponsors and funding. The project received support from the French Ministry of the Interior via an official letter in April 2025, as well as from ADEME in July 2025.
The implementation of this project follows the observation made by the French “Inspection Générale de l’Administration” in January 2023, noting a changing vehicle fleet and potentially obsolete design criteria for parking facilities. This included a warning about the potential risks associated with the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations.
In response to this, full-scale testing is deemed necessary to assess the evolution of hazardous phenomena in parking facilities. The objective of the SPARKLE project is to develop a methodology for characterizing fires involving recent vehicles in covered parking structures (both infrastructure and superstructure), in order to evaluate their safety level, taking into account implemented mitigation measures.
Given the complexity of the phenomena involved, the project is structured around several phases of increasing scale. Initially, unit tests are planned on recent electric and internal combustion vehicles to assess heat release rates and the influence of various parameters on fire spread. Subsequently, a realistic infrastructure built specifically for this project will allow for a second series of tests. This experimental campaign will provide data on fire spread kinetics, temperatures, and heat fluxes reached within the structure, as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of mitigation systems such as sprinklers. This demonstrator will enable vehicle fire tests—initially with both electric and combustion vehicles—in a representative parking environment, involving up to ten vehicles to observe fire propagation criteria. It will also allow emergency services to develop and refine their operational strategies for effectively responding to such fires.
The current source term used for fire safety engineering scenarios involving vehicle fires in parking garages may be updated as needed, to include the specificities of modern and electric vehicles. This goal is crucial to ensure the safety of parking facilities, both in terms of structural design and associated protection, as well as in the design of appropriate fire protection systems.
These experimental campaigns will be supported throughout the project by a series of numerical simulations to enhance the relevance of these approaches in parking safety design. The high-quality data expected will be invaluable for validating fire codes. At the conclusion of the project, a methodological guide will be developed to model fires involving recent vehicles in parking structures, taking into account the implemented mitigation measures.
This project will benefit from the joint initiative and the combined expertise of four historical French organizations dedicated to fire safety, with the aim of bringing the results and conclusions to a national level, thereby distinguishing itself from isolated efforts.
For more information, please contact Virginie Drean