Vehicles are seen badly damaged following a fire caused by a parked Mercedes-Benz EQE electric sedan at an underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Incheon, Aug. 2. Yonhap
Owners of Mercedes-Benz's EQE electric sedan have filed a collective suit against the headquarters of the carmaker and China's Farasis Energy — the battery supplier for the scandal-tainted electric vehicle (EV). The lawsuit stems from an incident involving an EV that exploded at an apartment complex in August, according to a legal representative of the owners, Monday.
They demanded compensation for the damage in the suit filed to the Seoul Central District Court. The accident erupted at the underground parking lot of the residential complex in Incheon, which damaged hundreds of other vehicles parked nearby.
As the parked EQE suddenly caught fire for unconfirmed reasons, the German automaker and police launched a joint investigation to find the exact cause. But nothing specific has been confirmed regarding the compensation.
According to Ha Jong-seon, an attorney representing the EQE owners, Farasis did not fulfill its responsibility in designing its batteries in a way to minimize thermal spread.
They also filed a suit against official dealerships of Mercedes-Benz Korea, including Han Sung Motor.
“More EQE EV owners will join for the litigation, and we will file a third round of a collective suit,” Ha said.
The National Forensic Service raised the possibility that the disaster was caused by damage to the vehicle's battery cell.
According to data from the police, a total of 87 vehicles were destroyed in the fire, and more than 780 other cars were also damaged. Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Mathias Vaitl publicly apologized for the accident and pledged to provide sufficient support for those affected by the fire.
In response, the local subsidiary of the German automaker has decided to make a donation worth 4.5 billion won ($3.2 million) to the residents of the apartment complex, and offered to rent its E-Class sedans to victims for a year for free.