Korean EV fire prompts calls for supplier transparency

Electric vehicle (EV) battery fires are back in the headlines, this time in South Korea. On 1 August 2024, a fire erupted within a Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 located in an Incheon parking lot below a residential building. It took firefighters eight hours to extinguish the fire, by which time it had damaged about 140 surrounding vehicles and forced some residents to move into shelters. This setup—a parking lot directly below residential accommodation—is common in South Korea, and the event has prompted a wave of concern around EV safety. Some residential complexes in the country are reportedly banning EVs from their underground parking areas and shutting down chargers.