Cause of Mercedes EV fire remains unresolved as car was idle and uncharged for days

Industry

Cause of Mercedes EV fire remains unresolved as car was idle and uncharged for days

Published: 05 Aug. 2024, 11:38

SARAH CHEA
chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr

Firefighters inspect an underground parking lot in Incheon where a Mercedes EV caused a fire after an explosion last week. A total of 140 cars were damaged, with 40 of them completely burned. [YONHAP]

The exact cause of the Mercedes EV fire, which led to an explosion in an underground parking lot in Incheon, remains unclear, as it turned out that the vehicle was not charging and had been parked there for nearly three days.

The car owner, in his 40s, parked the vehicle around 7:16 p.m. on July 29 and had not used it since then, according to local media reports on Monday.

CCTV footage shows a Mercedes-Benz EV exploding at an underground parking lot in Incheon Thursday morning. [YONHAP]

No external shock occurred while the vehicle was parked, according to reports.

The vehicle blaze broke out at 6:15 a.m. on Aug. 1 after the car, which appeared to be a white Mercedes EQE sedan, was seen in CCTV footage exploding around two seconds after emitting smoke.

The fire was fully extinguished in eight hours but sent a total of 23 people to nearby hospitals, including a firefighter and seven children.

In the aftermath, the incident caused a power failure, affecting 480 households that lost electricity.

Forty cars were burned while around 100 vehicles suffered damage and were scorched.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]