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Mercedes-Benz Korea launched the names of its electrical automobile battery suppliers on Tuesday, bowing to public outrage after one in every of its automobiles burst into flame in a parking zone earlier this month.
The August 1 hearth broken a whole bunch of automobiles and created a nationwide panic, with automobile parks throughout South Korea imposing a wave of adhoc restrictions amid rising requires transparency on battery provide chains.
South Korea is a significant producer of batteries and electrical automobiles, together with native carmakers Hyundai and Kia, with EVs making up 9.3 % of latest automobiles bought final 12 months — increased than within the US.
“Though the evaluation continues to be in progress, the CCTV footage means that this hearth displays all of the indicators of being brought on by a battery,” a spokesman on the Incheon Hearth Division instructed AFP.
In response to consultants, battery fires are harder to extinguish than standard ones as a result of thermal runaway impact — a series response inside battery cells.
The Mercedes-Benz mannequin EQE 350 that exploded into flames had a battery from Chinese language producer Farasis Power, Mercedes Korea disclosed on its web site Tuesday.
Native media have proven dramatic pictures of the automobile catching hearth, inflicting a blaze that destroyed 40 automobiles within the parking zone, with the fireplace division saying some 23 individuals have been hospitalised for smoke inhalation.
Hearth authorities are investigating the deactivation of the automobile park’s sprinkler system within the hearth’s preliminary minutes, with native media speculating a upkeep employee might have thought it had been activated in error.
South Korea’s Workplace for Coverage Coordination mentioned Tuesday it will advocate automakers voluntarily disclose the battery model info for all electrical automobiles offered within the nation.
“To alleviate the issues of residents in multi-unit housing, it has been determined to conduct pressing inspections of fireplace security amenities, corresponding to sprinklers, in underground parking heaps,” it added.
The federal government additionally plans to supply a “free inspection” of electrical automobiles to ease any fire-related issues amongst their house owners, they mentioned.
The incident has heightened issues in regards to the security of electrical automobiles, prompting some house complexes to ban EVs from underground parking and to close down charging stations.
Different Mercedes battery suppliers embody South Korean firms LG Power Answer and SK On and China’s CATL, the corporate revealed Tuesday.
The hearth has sparked a public demand for necessary disclosure of battery suppliers by EV producers.
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