Mercedes EQB catches fire while charging at JB dealership

JOHOR BARU: A Mercedes-Benz EQB electric vehicle (EV) caught fire while charging at a car showroom located at Batu 5 along Jalan Skudai here.

Larkin Fire and Rescue Station operation commander Azmi Johar said they received a distress call notifying them about the incident through MERS 999 at 2.25pm today.

He added a fire engine and two Rapid Intervention Motorcycle units with 10 firemen were immediately deployed to the scene.

“When we arrived at the location, we found a Mercedes-Benz EQB model was on fire while the vehicle was being charged.

“The fire destroyed about 90% of the car, 5% of the showroom building structure and as well as 20% of the electric vehicle charging bay,” he said. The car was parked alongside a DC fast charger.

Azmi added that the fire was successfully extinguished before ending the operation at around 3.10pm while the cause of the fire and the estimated loss was under investigation.

The Mercedes EV fire comes in the wake of another dramatic incident involving a Tesla Model Y that was also gutted in a fire in Puchong, Selangor on Oct 16. The car was parked in a public space when it caught fire and 70% of the car was destroyed by the time firemen arrived on the scene. Like the Mercedes EV case, no one was injured in the fire.

Fire Fighter Industry Sdn Bhd said in a blog that the Model Y fire did not exhibit the signature characteristics of a battery fire such as visible jet flames and low-lying white smoke.

It said that the fire could have started from a non-battery source and could potentially escalate into a battery fire because of the battery's proximity to the fire source.  — Additional details by CarSifu

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