Korea to certify safety of EV battery from October

Govt. rolls out stronger safety measures to prevent EV battery fires and minimize damage

Fire authorities conduct a drill to put out an EV fire in Busan on Aug. 27. (Yonhap)

The South Korean government said Friday it will certify the safety of electric vehicle batteries beginning October, four months ahead of the initial plan, as it rolled out various measures to prevent EV fires.

According to the government’s EV fire safety management measures, both domestic and imported auto brands will be subject to the authorities’ EV battery certification requirement. The government will disclose the information of the battery cell manufacturer, battery type and key materials for all EVs sold in the country.

The advanced safety measures came after a recent series of EV fires raised public concern, including an EV fire in an underground parking lot in Incheon that burned over 80 cars last month.

The government will also expand the EV battery checklist, which only assesses high voltage insulation, to inspect more information such as the battery cell’s voltage, battery’s temperature and charging status as well as accumulated charging or discharging records. The government plans to expand the EV battery inspection infrastructure across the country.

The government has decided to put more accountability on EV manufacturers and charging operators to bolster consumer protection against EV fire damage.

According to the plan, EV manufacturers without product liability insurance will be excluded from receiving EV subsidies starting next year. The government will push for mandatory product liability insurance. Charging operators will be required to have no-fault liability insurance to compensate for EV fire damage.

The government vowed to improve the battery management system, or BMS, to better detect fire risks. Hyundai Motor and Kia will install BMS safety features in older EVs without them and provide updates at no costs.

The government will establish battery risk standards for BMS before the end of this year to effectively address EV fires and begin a pilot project in the first half of next year to automatically notify firefighters in high-risk situations for EVs whose owners have agreed to provide BMS information to authorities.

More smart control chargers, which act as a dual safety measure with BMS by controlling charging, will be supplied to bring the total number to 71,000 units next year from this year’s 20,000 units.

The government aims to minimize damage from EV fire by installing sprinklers, which are effective in preventing the spread of fire in underground parking lots, in all new buildings. Existing buildings with sprinklers will undergo enhanced regular checkups and performance improvements, including replacing fire detectors and sprinkler heads.

From a long-term perspective, the government will work to reduce the risk of fire in EV batteries by developing additives for separator stability, battery pack extinguishing technologies and advancing solid-state battery technology. Solid-state batteries can tolerate higher temperatures and have a higher thermal stability, which makes them a safer alternative to the widely-used lithium-ion batteries.

By Kan Hyeong-woo(hwkan@heraldcorp.com)