Fire-plagued Mercedes uses Chinese cells for most EVs in S.Korea

Mercedes-Benz AG, a German luxury carmaker hit by an electric vehicle fire in South Korea, said most of its EV models in the country are equipped with Chinese-made cells.

Mercedes-Benz Korea Ltd. on Tuesday disclosed the manufacturers of its EV battery cells amid mounting pressure from the government and customers. It came after its EQE electric sedan, with cells reportedly produced by Chinese company Farasis Energy Inc. caught fire in an apartment building garage in Incheon, west of Seoul, earlier this month.

“All Mercedes-Benz EV batteries are manufactured by Mercedes-Benz’s 100%-owned subsidiaries, while various manufacturers supply battery cells,” the Korean unit of the German carmaker said on its website.

In the EQE sedan lineup, the EQE 300 is the only trim equipped with cells produced by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world's top battery maker. The EQE 350+, the AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ and the EQE 350 4MATIC all use cells by Farasis.

For its EQE SUV models, Mercedes-Benz uses cells by Farasis for the EQE 500 4MATIC SUV and battery products by China’s CATL for the EQE 350 4MATIC SUV.

The automaker uses CATL’s cells for most EVs in its upper-class EQS line including the Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV.

Mercedes-Benz uses cells from Korea’s SK On Co., the world’s fifth-largest battery maker, for lower-end models such as the EQA 250 and the EQB 300 4MATIC. The discontinued EQC 400 4MATIC was equipped with cells by LG Energy Solution Ltd.

“We are cooperating with [Korean] authorities’ investigations to figure out the exact cause of the incident,” Mercedes-Benz Korea said, referring to the Aug. 1 fire. “We are doing our utmost to identify the root cause and take follow-up measures.”

VOLKSWAGEN EVS EQUIPPED WITH KOREAN BATTERIES

Volkswagen AG, the world’s second-largest automaker, said its EV models are equipped with Korean-made batteries.

The German automaker said all EV models in its Audi luxury brand use batteries manufactured by LG Energy and Samsung SDI Co.

Samsung SDI, the world’s sixth-largest battery maker, supplies cells for the electric SUV e-tron including the Sportback trim and the premium electric SUV Q8 e-tron line. LG Energy provides cells for the e-tron GT quattro, the RS e-tron GT quattro and the compact electric SUV Q4 e-tron series.

The two Korean battery makers also supplied cells for the discontinued e-tron 55 quattro.

Volkswagen equips the electric crossover SUV ID.4 sold in Korea with LG Energy cells.

TO ALLEVIATE SAFETY CONCERNS

The disclosures came as local and foreign carmakers scrambled to ease safety concerns in the country over EVs and batteries, especially those made by Chinese companies, after the fire.

The blaze took more than eight hours to put out and damaged at least 16 other vehicles, boosting EV-phobia and placing added pressure on automakers, which have been struggling with the sustained weakness in the green vehicle industry.

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., the country’s two biggest carmakers, as well as foreign brands such as BMW and Volvo, have since disclosed their EV battery and cell suppliers.

Hyundai and Kia said they will provide safety inspection services for all EVs in the country indefinitely.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.