Hyundai Motor’s electric bus catches fire

 

The City Bus, Hyundai Electric City Manufactured in 2019, caught fire in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province on February 15. The bus was moving back to the garage after repair and inspection as the fire started in the roof, where its battery was located. Fortunately, there were no passengers on the bus and no one was hurt by this freak accident.

The battery manufacturer is LF Energy Solution as in the cause of the battery of the Hyundai Kone EV, whose successive fires recently led to a global recall, The auto-manufacturer, the Korea  Automobile Testing & Research Institute, and the National Fire Agency are planning to initiate a joint investigation to the cause of the fire.

The  Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport said: “ We will look into whether the fire started inside or outside the battery cell and deal with the matter with the National Forensic Service”.

LG Energy Solution which supplied the battery may take a direct hit if the battery is blamed as the ministry is about to announce the result of its Kona Fire Investigation.

The Ministry also confirmed the possibility that a defective cell of the high-voltage battery might have caused the fire. However, LG Energy Solution is denying that possibility.

Hyundai may replace the battery system of every Kona EV depending on the investigation’s outcome. This is estimated to cost substantially.

The Kone EV launched in 2018, and 11 fires occurred in South Korea and 4 abroad in October last year. Hyundai recalled 77, 000 Kona EVs manufactured between September 2017 and March 2020 and updated the battery management system and even the battery was immediately replaced following symptoms of drastic fluctuation of battery temperature and excessive inter-cell voltage deviation.