Gov’t, ruling party call for mandating disclosing battery brand information of electric vehicles

The government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) agreed Sunday to introduce a system mandating automakers to disclose the battery brand information of all electric vehicles (EVs). During a meeting between senior government officials and PPP officials, the two sides also agreed to launch at an early date a system mandating automakers to get government certification on the safety of the batteries for their EV models. The move comes amid safety concerns triggered by a fire that began in a parked Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle on Aug. 1, which destroyed a parking garage inside an apartment complex in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, while either completely destroying or damaging over 100 cars. Days later, a fire broke out in a parked EV in Geumsan, 166 km south of Seoul. Automakers have voluntarily released the information of battery brands used in their electric vehicles following the incident. Source: Yonhap News Agency