South Korea holds emergency meeting as EV fires stir consumer fear

SEOUL — South Korean officials met on Monday (Aug 12) to discuss electric vehicle safety and whether to require car firms to disclose battery brands amid growing consumer concern after an EV blaze in an underground garage extensively damaged an apartment block.

The fire on Aug 1, which appeared to start spontaneously in a Mercedes-Benz EV parked below a residential building, took eight hours to put out, destroying or damaging about 140 cars and forcing some residents to move to shelters.

The country's vice environment minister is leading the meeting, which is also being attended by the transport and industry ministries and the national fire agency, an official said, with the government due to announce new rules soon.

On Tuesday, transport ministry officials will hold talks with automakers, including Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Volkswagen Group Korea, to discuss the proposal to disclose battery brands used in EVs, media reports said.

The ministry did not immediately provide a comment on the reports. Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Volkswagen Group Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Images published in media of dozens of charred cars with only their metal frames remaining in the parking lot fire have fuelled consumer fears about EVs, likely exacerbated because so many people in South Korea live in apartments, often with parking lots below.

Early this month, Kia Corp's electric crossover EV6 with South Korean battery maker SK On's batteries also caught fire in a parking lot, fire authorities said.

Car experts say that EVs burn differently to cars with internal combustion engines, with fires often lasting longer and harder to extinguish as they have a tendency to