(Bloomberg) -- A dramatic fire that left many South Koreans in a panic about the reliability of electric vehicles has prompted the country to take unprecedented measures to assuage public fears over battery safety.
Four months ago, an unplugged Mercedes-Benz electric sedan caught fire and exploded, destroying an underground parking lot in Incheon, west of Seoul. The blaze left over 200 families homeless for weeks and took firefighters more than eight hours to extinguish.
The incident quickly soured public perception of battery-powered cars, with most of the news coverage and posts on social media focused around the risk of EV fires and Korea’s lack of safety regulations. Discussions among car manufacturers and lawmakers followed, leading the government to announce an overhaul of EV policies in early September.
The new set of regulations included mandating automakers disclose the brands of their batteries, expanding the scope of safety inspections for existing EVs and preventing vehicles from being fully charged.
The government has also directly stepped in to ensure the safety of batteries via a state-run certification system. The pilot project has been running since mid-October with five companies, including carmakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. as well as cell manufacturer LG Energy Solution Ltd., participating.
The project is aimed at improving EV safety by having the government examine and certify the safety of EV batteries before installation. Before the initiative, EVs were sold in South Korea without any third-party safety tests. Under the new system, state-run agencies like the Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute will put batteries through their paces before installation, ensuring they meet government-backed safety certification standards.
The government is also mandating automakers and cell manufacturers disclose more details about their batteries. Previously, companies only shared the capacity and maximum output of a battery. Now, they’re required to specify the battery type — prismatic, pouch or cylindrical — and the raw materials used. Officials say the pilot, which was expedited by the Mercedes-Benz fire, should provide consumers with significantly more information when purchasing an EV. Its full implementation is expected from February.
Regardless, some have questioned the new rules’ effectiveness in actually improving safety.
Last week, the Incheon Metropolitan Police said that their investigation failed to determine the cause of the blaze because the Mercedes-Benz vehicle was completely destroyed in the fire, leaving no data to retrieve.
Given the nature of these incidents, investigations often end up with no clear conclusion, and batteries often get the blame for EV fires when there could be other factors at play, one senior executive at a battery manufacturer said. Things can go wrong after batteries are made and delivered to automakers considering they’re the ones doing the final handling and installing of the batteries.
SK On Co., which invested 24 billion won ($17.2 million) last year to establish a safety evaluation center in Seosan, said it’s cooperating with its partner automakers to enhance battery safety. Similarly, LG Energy is working on bolstering the quality of its products, including advancements to its battery management system.
New buildings are also now required to feature enhanced fire monitoring systems and use more fire-resistant materials. Smaller firetrucks will be deployed nationwide, starting next year, so that they can enter underground lots. These measures are especially critical since most Koreans live in high-density apartments, where a large number of charging stations are located in underground garages.
While the fire, due to its scale and intensity, drew mass public attention at a particularly challenging time when global EV sales growth was already slowing, perhaps because of the government’s swift response, new imported EV registrations inched back up again in Korea in October, increasing by about 15% to 3,159 units versus September.
The government has pledged to work with its EV safety task force team through the end of the year to develop further measures to mitigate fire risks.
The Mercedes-Benz blaze was undoubtedly an unfortunate event, but it cast a much-needed spotlight on the issue and sparked calls for stricter regulations. Ultimately, it could serve as a wake-up call for South Korea to create a safer, more supportive environment for battery-powered cars.
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