A Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle (EV) reportedly caught fire in a parking lot in South Korea last week, damaging at least 70 other vehicles and sending over a dozen people to the hospital.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the fire started at around 6:15 am on July 1 in the basement of an apartment building in Incheon, west of Seoul.
It is unclear why the electric car, believed to be a Mercedes-Benz EQE, caught fire, although security camera footage shows smoke beginning to emanate from the electric sedan before flames erupted.
Mercedes Electric Car Catches Fire in South Korea Garage
Over 177 firefighters and 80 fire engines were deployed to extinguish the blaze, which damaged approximately 70 other vehicles in the parking lot before it was brought under control, according to the news agency.
At least 16 residents of the apartment complex were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. The fire also left 480 households without power and forced the evacuation of 121 people.
A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz Korea told Yonhap that the company is investigating the cause of the fire.
“As the investigation is still ongoing, we ask for your understanding that we cannot provide further details at this time,” the spokesperson said.
“We express our deep regret to the residents of the apartment complex and the surrounding area who were affected by the recent incident.”
While fires involving electric vehicles are less common than those involving gasoline or diesel-powered cars, the high-voltage batteries that power them burn more intensely and require significantly more water to extinguish.
According to EV FireSafe, an Australian company that collects data on vehicle fires worldwide, there have been 511 incidents involving thermal runaway in the batteries of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) globally from 2010 to the end of June 2024.
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