(Photo= Yonhap news)

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] A fire broke out in a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle parked in the underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Incheon, causing significant damage. It has been reported that the vehicle was equipped with a Chinese-made battery.

According to the Incheon Fire Department, at around 6:15 a.m. on the 1st, a fire occurred in a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle model 'EQE' that was parked in the underground parking lot of an apartment in Cheongna, Incheon.

Footage from the incident’s CCTV shows white smoke emanating from the vehicle, followed by a sudden explosion, which then spread the fire. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined. However, attention is being drawn to the fact that the battery in this model is the same Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese (NCM) 811 battery from Chinese company C that was installed in several vehicles involved in previous fires.

Particularly noteworthy is that Mercedes-Benz had previously mentioned that the battery cells used in their EQE model are supplied by Chinese company C, with Mercedes-Benz itself guaranteeing the safety and quality of the product. The responsibility for this incident is thus under scrutiny.

Chinese battery manufacturer C developed the NCM 811 battery in 2019 and has supplied it to several OEM vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz. However, after multiple fires in electric vehicles equipped with this battery, concerns have been raised about its technological reliability.

 

 

 

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