Owen Bellwood / Jalopnik
Quartz
More than 20 people are in hospital after a Mercedes-Benz electric car burst into flames in a South Korean car park. The car exploded and damaged more than 100 cars parked nearby. The fire released a cloud of toxic smoke into the building above, which left 23 people in need of medical attention.
The Mercedes-Benz EQE sedan was captured exploding in a car park in South Korea, reports Inside EVs. The spontaneous fire on the electric car started while it was parked up in an underground garage in the city of Incheon, which is about 20 miles outside of the capital city of Seoul, South Korea.
The car initially started smoking, billowing plumes of white smoke into the underground garage for several seconds before a burst of bright orange fire erupted from the front of the Mercedes EQE. The EV was reportedly not charging at the time of the blaze. As Inside EVs reports:
The EQE fire caused damage to some 140 cars (of which 70 had more significant damage) that were parked on the same floor, and 23 people who lived in the building above were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. According to Korea JoongAng Daily, a total of 103 people were initially evacuated from the nearby buildings after they started filling up with black smoke.
The fire was so strong that it affected the electricity grid not only in the building where it happened but for the entire building complex. Later reports said that almost 500 households were without power and water for five days after the incident.
As a result of the smoke released by the fire, more than 200 residents were evacuated from their apartments and nearly half of those asked to vacate the premises had to be rescued from stairs and balconies by firefighterss, reports CarScoops. In total, 20 residents including seven infants and children under 10 were hospitalized after inhaling the toxic smoke.<figcaption class=”sc-1ptbguh-0 dHvBHx caption”>청라 풍2 전기차 화재.. 벤츠 대응은?</figcaption>
Mercedes-Benz Korea initially commented on the blaze, releasing a statement saying that it was working to “collaborate with fire authorities to determine the exact cause.” Local police and fire departments have already launched an investigation into the blaze, with some speculation suggesting that an earlier crash with the Mercedes may have compromised its power pack, reports CarScoops.
The Korean-spec EQE comes with a different power pack compared with its North American counterpart. In Asia, the car is sold with a nickel cobalt manganese pack that is sourced from Chinese Farasis Energy, while American models pack a CATL-sourced lithium-ion battery pack with a capacity of 90.6 kWh.
Electric vehicle fires are notoriously tricky to get under control. In the past, firefighters have been forced to use more than 36,000 gallons of water to extinguish an EV blaze and warnings have repeatedly been made that firefighters aren’t prepared to deal with an onslaught of EV fires.
A version of this articles originally appeared on Jalopnik.
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