[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] In response to growing demands for transparency following an electric vehicle (EV) fire, Mercedes-Benz Korea disclosed the battery manufacturers for its EV models on August 13. This comes 12 days after a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle caught fire in an apartment parking lot in Cheongna, Incheon, on August 1.
Mercedes-Benz Korea published the battery supplier details for 16 of its electric vehicle models on its website. Previously, domestic automakers Hyundai and Kia had voluntarily disclosed their EV battery manufacturers, and among imported car brands, BMW Korea had done so just a day before. Initially, Mercedes-Benz resisted revealing this information, citing trade secrets, but reversed its position in the face of increasing consumer pressure.
According to the information released, the EQE 350+ model, which was involved in the fire, uses batteries from the Chinese manufacturer Farasis, regardless of the production year. While it was initially believed that both the top-tier Chinese battery maker CATL and the global top-10 ranked Farasis supplied batteries for this model, it turns out that only the EQE 300 model uses CATL batteries. Other models, such as the EQB 300 4MATIC and EQA 250 (2023-2025), are equipped with batteries from the South Korean battery manufacturer SK On. For other models, the batteries are split between CATL and Farasis depending on the specific model.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
