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By Jack Kim and Heekyong Yang
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean officers met on Monday to debate electrical car security and whether or not to require automobile corporations to reveal battery manufacturers amid rising client concern after an EV blaze in an underground storage extensively broken an residence block.
The hearth on Aug. 1, which appeared to start out spontaneously in a Mercedes-Benz (OTC:) EV parked under a residential constructing, took eight hours to place out, destroying or damaging about 140 vehicles and forcing some residents to maneuver to shelters.
The nation’s vice setting minister is main the assembly, which can be being attended by the transport and trade ministries and the nationwide hearth company, an official mentioned, with the federal government as a consequence of announce new guidelines quickly.
On Tuesday, transport ministry officers will maintain talks with automakers, together with Hyundai Motor (OTC:) Group, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Volkswagen (ETR:) Group Korea, to debate the proposal to reveal battery manufacturers utilized in EVs, media stories mentioned.
The ministry didn’t instantly present a touch upon the stories. Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Volkswagen Group Korea didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Photographs printed in media of dozens of charred vehicles with solely their metallic frames remaining within the parking zone hearth have fuelled client fears about EVs, possible exacerbated as a result of so many individuals in South Korea dwell in flats, usually with parking heaps under.
Early this month, Kia Corp’s electrical crossover EV6 with South Korean battery maker SK On’s batteries additionally caught hearth in a parking zone, hearth authorities mentioned.
Automobile specialists say that EVs burn otherwise to vehicles with inside combustion engines, with fires usually lasting longer and tougher to extinguish as they generally tend to reignite.
The Seoul Metropolitan Fireplace & Catastrophe Headquarters in a report printed in February mentioned 1,399 fires occurred in underground parking heaps in South Korea between 2013 and 2022, with 43.7% attributed to automobiles. It mentioned electrical sources accounted for 53% of automobile fires in underground garages.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported final week that South Korea deliberate to require EV makers to reveal the model of batteries in vehicles.
Automakers at present want to supply sure details about automobiles, equivalent to gas effectivity, however solely restricted particulars on batteries and should not have to call the producers, the newspaper mentioned.
On Saturday, Hyundai Motor Co recognized producers of batteries used of their 13 EV fashions, together with three fashions from its Genesis model on its web site, after receiving many enquiries about EV battery makers.
Hyundai and Genesis EVs use batteries from corporations together with South Korea’s LG Power Answer (LGES) and SK On, in addition to China’s CATL, the web site confirmed.
Moon Hak-hoon, professor of automotive engineering at Osan College, mentioned merely requiring automobile corporations to supply the make of an EV battery wouldn’t stop fires. However what could be extra useful is to certify the fireplace hazards of every battery model, he mentioned.
Park Moon-woo, lead creator of a report on the response to EV fires in underground garages, mentioned disclosure would give patrons extra selection, however famous that at present there was no definitive information on which EV battery manufacturers are extra susceptible to fires.
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