Mercedes to offer free rentals for a year for owners of total losses from EV fire

Mercedes-Benz Korea will offer free rentals of its E-Class sedans to owners of vehicles that were totaled in an EQE EV fire in Incheon at the start of the August.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan [YONHAP]

Mercedes-Benz Korea will offer a one year rental of its E-Class sedan free of charge to the owners of vehicles that were totaled due to a massive explosion of an EQE EV in early August.

The automaker shared its plans through the apartment’s management team, according to local media reports Thursday.

Households with vehicles deemed a total loss are eligible to rent the company’s 2024 model year E-Class E200 sedan at no cost for a year or for 30,000 kilometers (18,000 miles), whichever arrives first.

Eligible residents have until 6 p.m. next Wednesday to sign up for the offer.

The vehicle rental program will be separate from the 4.5 billion won ($3.3 million) donation the company promised.

On Aug. 1, a Mercedes EQE EV burst into flames in an underground parking garage at an apartment complex in Incheon, sending 23 people to the hospital. The incident damaged as many as 880 vehicles parked in the garage and inflicted weeklong electricity and water supply outages on some 1,600 households.

Mercedes-Benz announced Aug. 9 that the company will donate 4.5 billion won to help support the households affected by the incident.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]