SEOUL — South Korea’s Environment Ministry said Thursday it plans to hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss fires involving electric vehicles, including one that caused extensive damage, and draw up measures to prevent similar incidents.
The ministry said the ministries of Land and Industry will attend Monday’s meeting, as will other state bodies such as the National Fire Agency. It also said the government plans to announce comprehensive measures regarding fires in electric vehicles soon.
The move comes after analysts warned that authorities and the EV industry must find ways to address public concerns about safety in a sector already struggling with declining sales.
Yonhap News Agency said the government would announce the new measures early next month.
Separately, the Chosun Ilbo The newspaper quoted an anonymous official from the transportation ministry as saying that South Korea planned to require electric vehicle manufacturers to disclose the brand of their cars. batteries in cars.
Automakers in South Korea are currently required to provide certain information about vehicles, such as fuel efficiencybut only limited details about batteries are given and the names of the manufacturers do not have to be mentioned, the newspaper said.
The Department of Transport declined to comment immediately on the report.
Last week, a Mercedes-Benz An electric sedan powered by batteries from Chinese company Farasis Energy has caught fire in the underground garage of an apartment in the South Korean city of Incheon, media reported.
It took more than eight hours to extinguish the fire and about 140 cars were damaged and 23 people were hospitalised for smoke inhalation. Yes, I have a bite reported.
Mercedes-Benz Korea said in a statement that it takes the incident very seriously and will work with authorities to determine the cause.
Farasis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters said in a report published in February that 1,399 fires occurred in underground parking garages in South Korea between 2013 and 2022, 43.7% of which were attributed to vehicles. It said electrical sources were responsible for 53% of car fires in underground garages.
“A series of fires in underground parking garages have been linked to growing consumer distrust of electric vehicles, which could prolong the current downturn in the electric vehicle market,” said Esther Yim, an analyst at Samsung Securities, calling on the industry to take measures to reassure consumers.
Last month, Hyundai Motor said it would expand hybrid queues as global demand for electric cars declines.
Meanwhile, battery maker LG Energy Solution, whose customers include Tesla, General Motors and Hyundai Motor, among other things, lowered their annual sales target due to a decline in global demand for electric vehicles.