Photo: Mercedes Benz EQE. Credit: Mercedes Benz.
On August 1, a massive fire broke out in the underground parking lot of a luxury highrise complex in the Cheongna International City 청라국제도시 district of Incheon 인천 after the battery of a Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 parked there began flaring up and underwent a thermal runaway. It took firefighters nearly six hours to extinguish the fire, which incinerated 87 cars in the garage. The flames reached over 1,000 degrees Celsius, potentially damaging the foundation of the high rise residential towers, and knocking out power and water for more than four days.
EVs are becoming ever more popular in South Korea: the number of EVs nearly quadrupled between 2020 and 2024. But the Incheon fire raised concerns over whether EVs are suited to - and safe for - typical situation in South Korea, where cars are often parked close together in packed underground parking lots at the base of high-rise towers housing hundreds of people.
In the wake of the Incheon blaze, some have blamed Farasis, the Chinese EV battery supplier to Benz, often with criticism tinged with the Sinophobia increasingly prevalent in recent years. Other critics have pointed the finger at the luxury condo’s management personnel, who apparently prevented the garage’s sprinkler system from being activated, cautioning against excessive fears of EV battery fires.
