Electric cars: South Korea worried about fire
A recent fire in a Mercedes-Benz EQE in an underground car park turned into a disaster. The firefighters were apparently surprised by the scale of the fire. The scandal is such that the authorities have called in the manufacturers.
A thermal car can catch fire. An electric car too. Lately, there has been a lot of focus on the latter. Especially with regards to different ways of managing fire. If caught on fire, an electric car is more difficult to extinguish. The proof is what happened in Incheon, South Korea in August. A Mercedes-Benz EQE (photo) caught fire. A fire that ended in a real disaster: 23 injured, 140 vehicles destroyed or damaged, 121 people evacuated and firefighters obviously overwhelmed.
Who is responsible?
This event created a uproar in South Korea which has seen a resurgence of incidents. This fire incident is not the first fire of its kind in this country. There were 615, 53% of which were attributable to an electric car, the others to a car with an internal combustion engine. However, the government decided to call on Mercedes Korea to organize a recall of the EQE, because it seems that the origin of the Incheon disaster is the Chinese battery used for its model.
Transparency
South Korea wants manufacturers to communicate the battery manufacturer for each model. This will allow data to be collected to prevent risks and correct potential problems. This will also help firefighters to act according to the vehicle. However, the problem also lies in the automatic fire extinguishing infrastructure. They are designed for thermal cars, not for electric ones. Therefore, the authorities want construction companies to be more aware of the problem.
(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Source: Vers l’Avenir / Picture: © Mercedes-Benz)
