Mercedes-Benz chief in South Korea meeting apartment building residents after EV fire

SEOUL — The head of Mercedes-Benz in South Korea will meet on Wednesday residents of an apartment complex damaged by a fire that started in one of its electric vehicles (EVs) and burned for more than eight hours, stoking public safety fears.

Mathias Vaitl, the chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Korea, will hold a closed-door meeting with residents of the apartment in the city of Incheon to the west of Seoul, the company said, without providing more details.

The Aug. 1 fire appeared to start spontaneously in a Mercedes-Benz EV using Farasis Energy batteries parked in the underground garage of the apartment complex and damaged or destroyed 140 cars. The blaze also forced some apartment residents to move to shelters because of damage to the building.

Images in media of cars destroyed with only their metal frames remaining in the parking lot fire have fueled consumer fears about EVs, likely exacerbated because so many people in South Korea live in apartments, often with parking lots below.

The incident pushed government officials to hold a series of meetings this week to draw up measures to try to prevent such fires from occurring.

Mercedes-Benz Korea said earlier it was cooperating with authorities to determine the cause of the fire and planned to offer free inspections for EV owners.