Mercedes-Benz and BMW have reportedly revealed the names of their electric vehicle battery suppliers in South Korea after recent EV explosions sparked a widespread backlash against electric cars.
Bloomberg Reports Mercedes-Benz Group AG and the South Korean units of BMW AG have taken a big step toward transparency by publishing the names of their electric vehicle (EV) battery suppliers on their websites. The unusual disclosure comes after an unplugged Mercedes-Benz electric sedan caught fire at an apartment building in Incheon, South Korea, earlier this month. The explosion forced the evacuation of 200 households and sparked calls for stricter government measures on EV safety.
Typically, automakers around the world keep information about their battery suppliers secret, but as concerns over EV safety grow in South Korea, Hyundai and Kia recently made public the names of their battery manufacturers. German automakers Mercedes-Benz and BMW have also followed suit, and the government plans to hold a joint meeting with automakers to discuss short-term measures to further prevent EV fires.
Mercedes did not say which company made the battery in the car that caught fire, but local media reported it was China’s Farasis Energy Co. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has recommended that Mercedes conduct special inspections on the affected vehicles. In response, Mercedes-Benz Korea said it would carry out free inspections of all its EV models starting Wednesday. It also plans to donate about 4.5 billion won ($3.3 million) to help residents affected by the explosion as investigations into the fire continue.
Farasis Energy, which ranks 15th among global battery makers according to BloombergNEF’s 2023-2025 manufacturing capacity estimates, began supplying batteries to Mercedes-Benz in 2018 as part of an eight-year contract. In 2020, the German automaker became a strategic investor in the company. But Farasis did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the recent incident.
“It’s hard to judge at this point whether Farasis’ batteries are the problem, but the general view is that small and medium-sized battery makers are at higher risk than major ones like CATL and the Korean manufacturers,” said Yoon Jun-won, a fund manager at DS Asset Management in Seoul. “Until the problem is resolved, consumer sentiment toward EVs is likely to continue to deteriorate for some time.”
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship.
