Hold onto your seats, folks! 🚗🔥 The Republic of Korea (ROK) is hitting the accelerator on electric vehicle (EV) battery safety after a string of blazing incidents. Worried about recent EV fires, the ROK government and the ruling People Power Party announced on Sunday that they're fast-tracking a new EV battery certification program, now set to kick off this October.
Why the rush? Well, imagine this: On August 1st, an EV fire involving a Mercedes-Benz powered by Farasis Energy batteries took a whopping eight hours to put out! 😱 The blaze damaged around 140 vehicles and even forced residents in nearby apartments to evacuate. Talk about a hot mess!
Han Zeea, spokesperson for the People Power Party, shared that besides speeding up the certification, the government will require automakers to reveal who makes the batteries in their EVs. Transparency for the win! Some car makers are already on board, spilling the deets voluntarily.
But here's the twist: Experts warn that just knowing the battery brand might not make us any safer—there's still not enough info on which batteries are prone to fire. 🔥 Nonetheless, it's a step forward in boosting consumer awareness.
Specialists also point out that EV fires are a different beast compared to traditional car fires. They can burn longer and reignite, making them tougher to extinguish. So, stay alert and maybe keep a fire extinguisher handy, just in case! 😉
Reference(s):
ROK fast-tracks EV battery certification amid safety concerns
cgtn.com
