Korea mulls more sprinklers underground in wake of EV fire

In response to a recent surge in fires caused by electric vehicles in underground parking lots across South Korea, the government is reportedly considering regulatory changes, including installing additional sprinklers and expediting the fire department's response times.

The Ministry of Environment was set to hold a meeting Monday to have the National Fire Agency explain how to mitigate the risks associated with EV-related fires. Discussing major measures starting from the Monday meeting, the government will release a comprehensive plan for EV fires early next month, according to the reports.

Currently, sprinkler systems installed on the ceiling of a building have a distance of 2.3 meters between each sprinkler head, in accordance with relevant fire safety performance standards.

For underground parking garages with EV charging areas, fire authorities are considering narrowing this distance to 2 to 2.1 meters, allowing for a larger amount of water to be sprayed in the event of a fire and facilitating quicker extinguishment.

Increasing the sensitivity of sprinkler heads is also discussed.

If the sensitivity of the sprinklers increases, the system responds to airflow temperature and velocity faster. However, as the possibility of malfunction may also increase, specific measures will be prepared after sufficient review, said the fire officials.

Recently, an electric car fire in the underground parking lot of an apartment building in Cheongna, Incheon, which could have led to a major disaster, generated "electric car phobia" among the general public.

At 6:15 a.m. on August 1, a Mercedez-Benz EV caught fire in the basement of the apartment building and was extinguished in 8 hours and 20 minutes. The fire burned more than 40 cars in the underground parking lot and caused heat and soot damage to more than 100 cars.

Customer calls poured in within car companies, while some people gave up on buying an EV or even sold their cars on the used market. Conflicts are also mounting as multiple apartment buildings ban EVs from their underground parking lots, leading to a possible downturn in the entire EV industry.

According to fire authorities, there were a total of 139 EV fires in Korea between 2021 and 2023, 48 percent of which occurred while the vehicle was parked, being charged, or stationed.