South Korean lawmakers continue to push for safety as a priority and reassure citizens after two fatal electric vehicle (EV) fires.
News agency Reuters The South Korean government has pushed ahead with plans to introduce an EV battery certification program from February 2025 to October 2024, reports Reuters.
The new program will reportedly require automakers to prove their EV batteries meet local safety standards set by the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport before they can be sold on the market – replacing the current voluntary system.
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This will also help manufacturers identify the origin of their batteries, a voluntary move that most brands took earlier this month.
The decision to accelerate the program was made after a Mercedes-Benz electric car catches fire in the underground parking lot of an apartment building, damaging about 140 vehicles and taking eight hours to extinguish. Reuters.
A Kia EV6 caught fire in another parking lot days later, despite the car being connected to an EV charger in this second incident.
Reuters Reported additional safety measures put in place to prevent or reduce the risk of electric vehicle fires include revised requirements for underground parking garage fire suppression and the adoption of chargers that do not overheat.
The changes come after the Seoul Metropolitan Government last week advised EV drivers not to use underground parking lots if their vehicle’s battery is more than 90 percent charged.
The company has announced a trial program that limits fast chargers to 80% if they are in public places, and it is said to be expanding the program to private operators.
This was criticized by Professor Yoon Won-sub, an energy science expert at Sungkyunkwan University and head of a battery research center. He said Korea JoongAng Daily There is no evidence to support a link between an EV’s state of charge and its fire intensity.
“Overcharging is not the main factor causing the fire,” said Mr. Yoon.
“From the beginning, electric cars were designed to never be fully charged, even if 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.”
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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