Mercedes-Benz Korea responds to EV fire with supplier list, free inspections
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Mercedes-Benz Korea on Tuesday revealed the battery suppliers for all its electric cars sold here on its official Korean website and announced free inspections for all EV owners to address mounting safety concerns in the wake of a devastating fire in Incheon involving one of its electric vehicles.
This announcement comes 12 days after the fire and follows similar actions taken by domestic automakers Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, both of which recently disclosed their EV battery suppliers. BMW Korea, the first foreign automaker in the country to take such a step, also released details of its its battery suppliers Monday.
All configurations of the EQE 350+ sedan model involved in the Incheon fire are equipped with batteries from Farasis, a Chinese battery manufacturer. Other models in the EQE lineup, such as the AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ and the EQE 350 4MATIC, also all use Farasis batteries. Among the EQE sedan lineup, the EQE 300 is the only model fitted with batteries from China's CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer.
The EQE 500 4MATIC sport utility vehicle and the EQS 350 sedan also use Farasis batteries, while the EQS SUV and the Maybach EQS SUV are equipped with CATL batteries.
Meanwhile, Korean battery manufacturer SK On supplies batteries for models like the EQB 300 4MATIC and the EQA 250 from the 2023 to 2025 model years, with older models such as the EQC 300 4MATIC using batteries from LG Energy Solution.
In response to the fire, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport has advised Mercedes-Benz to conduct special inspections on thousands of EVs equipped with Farasis batteries. The automaker has accepted this recommendation and will offer free battery inspections for all Mercedes-Benz EV owners at its service centers nationwide starting Wednesday. Vehicle owners will be notified via SMS to encourage them to bring their cars in for inspection.
Farasis was the world’s 10th-largest battery manufacturer by sales last year. Its nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries were recalled in China in 2021 due to fire risks. However, the investigation into the Incheon fire is still ongoing, and it is not yet clear whether the Farasis battery was the cause.
By Moon Joon-hyun(mjh@heraldcorp.com)
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