Chinese Hotel: "It's Safer Not to Allow Electric Cars in Underground Parking"
Following incidents of electric vehicle fires in South Korea, similar cases have been occurring in China, leading to bans on electric vehicles entering underground parking lots.
On the 11th (local time), the US-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported, citing Chinese media, that electric vehicles are being prohibited in parking lots of buildings in several areas of Zhejiang Province in eastern China.
According to reports, last weekend, Chinese media outlets such as Huashang Daily and Daily Economic News mentioned a recent fire incident at a five-star hotel in Hangzhou and stated that the hotel has banned electric vehicles from entering its underground parking lot. The hotel's security manager said, "Considering the characteristics of electric vehicle fires and our hotel's firefighting capabilities, we believe it is safer not to allow electric vehicles into the underground parking lot." The hotel announced that it would instead guide electric vehicles to a special parking lot located away from the main building. On the 8th, a similar ban was reportedly implemented at a five-star hotel in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province.
On Chinese social networking services (SNS), several posts have appeared reporting that drivers were denied entry to parking lots because they were driving electric vehicles. In China, electric vehicles include electric bicycles and motorized bicycles. On the 9th, a Chinese citizen journalist posted on X (formerly Twitter), "Hotels and other buildings in Zhejiang areas such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Xiaoshan have banned electric vehicles from underground parking lots for safety reasons, sparking heated debates."
Driver Zhu Mo from Xiaoshan told RFA that several fires started from lithium-ion batteries widely used in electric bicycles have occurred in the area. He said, "Electric bicycles catch fire very quickly," and added, "We saw reports of a person who took a lithium-ion battery into an elevator, and the battery spontaneously ignited, causing burns over 90% of the person's body."
Meanwhile, in South Korea, fears over electric vehicles have been growing since a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle fire occurred in an underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Incheon on the 1st of last month. The fire caused about 20 residents to inhale smoke. Additionally, 87 vehicles in the parking lot were burned, and 783 vehicles were scorched. On the 16th of last month, a Tesla electric vehicle parked on a roadside in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, caught fire and was extinguished after about four hours. Although there were no casualties, the Tesla vehicle was completely destroyed by the fire.
As concerns over electric vehicle fires spread, some apartment complexes have outright banned electric vehicles from entering underground parking lots. Earlier, Seoul City also announced plans to revise the "Standard Rules for Apartment Management" to recommend that only electric vehicles with a charge level of 90% or less be allowed access to underground parking lots in apartment complexes. According to the National Fire Agency, from 2018 to June 2024, there have been 187 electric vehicle fire incidents nationwide, with 16 occurring in Seoul alone. Electric vehicle fires can be caused by various factors such as external impact and battery defects.
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