South Korea’s most populous city is set to issue new guidelines for electric vehicle (EV) owners following a spate of fires that have shocked the public in recent weeks.
Korea JoongAng Daily According to a report by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, electric vehicle drivers should not use underground parking lots if their vehicle’s battery has more than 90 percent of its capacity left.
The report adds that there will be a pilot trial limiting fast chargers to 80% if they are in public places, and there are reportedly plans to extend the scheme to private operators.
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The introduction of the regulations – which are due to come into effect at the end of September – has been questioned by electric car owners in the region, as the Mercedes-Benz EQE caught fire earlier this month. Do not charge or fully charge when fire breaks out.
Initial reports suggest that 70 other vehicles have been damaged by the bushfire, although Korea JoongAng Daily revised this figure to 880 vehicles nearby.
The Mercedes-Benz fire was soon followed by another electric vehicle fire, this time a Kia EV6 caught fire, still in the underground parking lot, although in this case the car was connected to a charger at the time.
While the new regulations have yet to be implemented and enforced, Professor Yoon Won-sub — an energy science expert at Sungkyunkwan University and head of a battery research center — said there is no link between an EV’s state of charge and the vehicle’s fire intensity.
“Overcharging is not a factor that drives fires,” said Yoon. Korea JoongAng Daily.
“From the beginning, electric cars were designed to never reach full charge, even when the dashboard said they were 100 percent charged. There is an unproven argument that batteries are at greater risk of fire when fully charged.
“It seems like a ‘witch hunt’ to prevent electric car owners with 90% charged vehicles from entering underground car parks. It is necessary to come up with appropriate countermeasures after careful discussion among experts.”
Several automakers including Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have all provided the South Korean government with a list of their respective battery suppliers aimed at reducing EV owners’ concerns about fire and explosion.
EV FireSafe, an Australian company that compiles data on vehicle fires globally, found that there were 511 fires caused by loss of temperature control in electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) batteries reported worldwide between 2010 and the end of June 2024 – not including the most recent fires in South Korea.
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