SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea will advise automakers operating in the country to identify batteries used in their electric vehicles, a government statement said on Tuesday, as authorities seek to calm public safety concerns after a series of fires involving EVs.
The government said it had decided to advise car makers to voluntarily disclose the information to reduce fears over fires.
“Such battery information has not been available to the public so far and the measure is to reduce EV owners’ fire anxiety,” the office of government policy coordination said.
In recent days, some car companies, including Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp, BMW Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea, have started naming the manufacturers of batteries used in cars.
There has been growing public alarm in South Korea over EV car safety since an EV fire ripped through an underground parking lot on Aug. 1 and caused extensive damage.
The blaze, which appeared to start spontaneously in a Mercedes-Benz EV parked under a residential building, took eight hours to extinguish, destroying or damaging about 140 cars and forcing some residents to move to shelters.
Experts say requiring car companies to identify the batteries they use would give consumers more choice, but question how it would improve safety given the lack of definitive data on which battery brands are more prone to fires.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Ed Davies)
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