A dramatic fire that left many South Koreans in a panic about the reliability of electric vehicles has prompted the country to take unprecedented measures to assuage public fears over battery safety.
Four months ago, an unplugged Mercedes-Benz electric sedan caught fire and exploded, destroying an underground parking lot in Incheon, west of Seoul. The blaze left over 200 families homeless for weeks and took firefighters more than eight hours to extinguish.
The incident quickly soured public perception of battery-powered cars, with most of the news coverage and posts on social media focused around the risk of EV fires and Korea’s lack of safety regulations. Discussions among car manufacturers and lawmakers followed, leading the government to announce an overhaul of EV policies in early September.
