Park Soon-Kwan, CEO of Aricell, a South Korean lithium battery maker that was struck by a fire that killed 23 people in June, has been arrested after a court approved a warrant on allegations of violating industrial safety law.
The court also approved a detention warrant for Park’s son, an executive at the company. The court heard that a rush to meet a supply deadline and a lack of action to address signs of dangerous quality defects in batteries that had been produced led to the fire. Hiring temporary workers who did not receive proper safety and emergency escape training to make up for a backlog of production contributed to the large number of casualties, police and labour ministry officials said.
The company makes lithium thionyl chloride batteries for metering, sensors and radio communication devices.
We have received reports of EV manufacturers advising owners about fire safety:
- Stellantis, the US-European automotive manufacturer, has told the owners of more than 24,000 plug-in hybrid minivans to park them outdoors away from buildings, and to stop charging them due to the possibility of battery fires. A number of Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrids have been recalled, mainly in North America. The problem has been identified as a rare abnormality in individual battery cells. The risk of fires is reduced when the battery is depleted. Seven fires have been discovered within the group of vans being recalled.
- The British automaker Jaguar Land Rover has made a safety recall in the US and recommended owners of about 3,000 electric I-Pace SUVs built at the Graz Vehicle Assembly Plant from 9 January, 2018 – 14 March, 2019 to park them outdoors away from structures due to the risk of battery fires.
It has identified a fault that could lead to thermal overload in high voltage battery pack assemblies from LG Energy Solution. As an interim fix, dealers will software update the battery to limit battery charging to 80% capacity. There have been three fires in the US after previous software updates on the vehicles. No injuries were reported.
Other battery-related EV recalls have been reported in 2024 for Audi Q4 E-tron and Kia EV6.
Photo: owners of Jaguar I Pace 2018 advised to park away from structures.
