South Korea takes the lead in dealing with electric car fires

The Korean authorities call an emergency meeting following an accident that sent 140 cars up in smoke.

Photo by: InsideEVs

By: Francesco Barontini

Aug 14, 2024 at 4:27am ET

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Electric car fires are a problem that has no definitive solution. Not many battery-powered cars catch fire, but when they do, it's difficult to put them out. It takes a lot of effort and time, and the damage can be considerable.

Take for example what happened in South Korea a few days ago. An electric Mercedes caught fire spontaneously. It was parked in the underground garage of a block of flats and, as well as seriously damaging the building, it destroyed around 140 cars around it. Following this incident, the Korean authorities will soon be holding an emergency meeting to discuss the safety of electric cars.

Government to meet manufacturers

A government representative in Seoul said that the meeting would be chaired by the deputy environment minister and that the transport minister, the industry minister and the national fire service directorate would also be present. The aim is to establish new rules to make electric cars safer and, above all, to help rescue workers put out fires.

In the next few days, the Korean authorities will also be meeting car manufacturers to take joint measures. Apparently, the first manufacturers to be called will be Hyundai, Volkswagen and Mercedes, who have already declared their willingness to cooperate, without going into details.

This report by Korea Now on the garage fire

The desired new rules

The obligation to disclose the names of the manufacturers of the batteries used by manufacturers in their electric cars would also be on the agenda. Moon Hak-hoon, professor of automotive engineering at Osan University, also explained to Reuters that knowing the name of the battery manufacturer is of virtually no use. To fight fires, it would be much more useful to have specific certification provided by each brand of battery.

In short, the Korean government is fumbling its way forward, at least for the time being. But at least it is reacting swiftly to an episode that has shaken public opinion and undermined the confidence of many motorists in electric cars.

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Firefighters analyse the development of a fire in an electric car battery

The fact is that there is a lack of precise information and not just in Korea. In the United States and Europe, the authorities are still in the process of defining rules for effectively extinguishing electric cars, but have not yet published any official documents on the subject. Even the International Association of Fire Chiefs, an association that sees itself as a coordinating body and a point of contact between the various fire brigades around the world, has published some useful advice on its website, but nothing more. Perhaps Korea will pave the way for new standardised procedures.