How a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle fire sparked a nationwide incident in Korea

Things are not going well for Mercedes-Benz in South Korea at the moment. A few weeks ago, a Mercedes-Benz EQE electric sedan caught fire in an underground car park, and the consequences were so devastating that the local Mercedes-Benz CEO took action on the spot. Considering that this is only a single electric vehicle fire, the reaction seems disproportionate, but a disproportionate reaction is usually worth investigating.

Land Rover is turning away from the doom and gloom surrounding electric cars and bringing back the Freelander in a rather interesting way. Yes, the Freelander. I bet you never expected to hear that name again. Oh, and production of the Polestar 3 has begun in South Carolina. It couldn't have come soon enough for the brand.

Lastly, we have to talk about connectivity, because BMW and Mattel have announced a new feature, and boy, it just doesn't look like it. All that on today's edition of The Morning Dump.

A fire in a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle, a nationwide incident

When an accident occurs involving a single vehicle, you don't normally expect the CEO of the automaker's local branch to intervene directly. However, a Mercedes-Benz EQE in South Korea caught fire while parked and burned so badly that 140 cars were damaged or destroyed, raising international concerns about the fire safety of electric vehicles in densely populated areas. Now Reuters reported that the CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea met with the residents of the affected apartment building, probably to smooth things over.

Mathias Vaitl, chairman of Mercedes-Benz Korea, will hold a closed-door meeting with the residents of the apartment in the city of Incheon, west of Seoul, the company said, without giving further details.

This is a pretty big step, but after following the fire and its aftermath, it seems justified. If you haven't heard about this thermal event, Reuters provides a brief overview of everything we know so far.

On August 1, a fire apparently broke out spontaneously in a Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) parked in the city of Incheon, which used batteries from Farasis Energy (688567.SS). It took more than eight hours to extinguish the fire, destroying or damaging about 140 cars. Some residents of the apartments above had to move to emergency shelters.

Meanwhile, EV proponents reiterate that there are fewer fires in EVs than in ICE vehicles, and while that is absolutely true, not all fires are the same. In the case of a fire in an ICE vehicle, smaller fires such as spitting flames and igniting the rear bumper or igniting a bit of oil on the exhaust manifold can occur, and if extinguished quickly enough, the damage to the car can be repaired. Larger fires usually require a fire truck, but once they're out, they're out. In contrast, a thermal runaway in an EV requires large amounts of water and is often not extinguished in one go. Battery-powered EVs that have experienced a thermal incident can catch fire again hours or even days after the initial extinguishment. This is more of a challenge, and people's caution is entirely justified, as the infrastructure to handle these thermal incidents is not everywhere.

However, these challenges are not insurmountable. Equipment and techniques can be developed to better fight electric vehicle fires in parking garages and other densely populated spaces with low ceilings that fire trucks simply cannot reach. In fact, Reuters reports that the Korean government has held a series of meetings to prevent such an incident from ever happening again. Until then, consumers still have choices and the risks can still be mitigated.

Land Rover brings the Freelander back, so to speak

If you want to revive a model that had a reputation for blowing head gaskets in its first generation, that's probably not the way to go. That said, it's probably not the way to go in the West, but in China, where it's produced in a joint venture and runs on a platform from a Chinese automaker? Well, why not? IP is IP, so you might as well recycle it where you can. Yes, Automotive News reports that the Land Rover Freelander is coming back as a Chinese-made electric vehicle.

Chery will build a range of all-electric and extended-range electric vehicles under the Freelander brand at the factory. The models will be based on a Chery architecture. According to local news, the architecture will be the premium E0X electric platform used by Chery's upscale Exceed and Luxeed models.

Sales will initially focus on China, but “over time” will also be intended for export, JLR announced in June. Chery is China's largest car exporter.

JLR and Chery have not said when production of the Freelander models will begin.

JLR will be responsible for design and brand development, but the products will be developed by Chery and sold through its own network of Chery dealers.

So a Land Rover-like range of BEVs and EREVs, sold through a completely different dealer network and developed by a completely different company? While this is not unusual, one does wonder what Jaguar Land Rover's end goal is here. It's simple: licensing.

The new Freelanders are “mainstream” models and do not fall into JLR's luxury-focused “House of Brands” marketing and sales strategy, JLR explained.

As part of the contract, Chery licenses the Freelander name and in return JLR receives half of all profits.

To paraphrase Lt. Aldo Raine, I don't blame them, damn good deal. While you can argue whether it would be brand suicide to reintroduce the Freelander name in the West, if it doesn't fit the direction of a brand, has some name recognition and can be a profit center, then license the thing. Sure, that arrangement will still require some work, but getting 50 percent of all profits just from design and branding work sounds a hell of a lot easier than developing a completely new car.

Maybe Polestar isn't completely screwed after all

As the trade war with China rages on, Polestar seems to be one of the big losers. After all, the Polestar 2 and Polestar 4 are both built in China, so production of the Carolina-made Polestar 3 electric crossover just couldn't start fast enough. Now it's official, as Polestar has announced that the first units have already rolled off the production line. In a press release, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said:

Producing the Polestar 3 in the US is a crucial step for us. We now offer our customers in America an electric SUV that is built in America. Exporting the Polestar 3, produced in South Carolina, to Europe will strengthen our business on a broader level.

Not only should building the Polestar 3 in America make it eligible for IRA tax credits, but exporting U.S.-made vehicles could also be a way to offset tariffs on imported electric vehicles from China, thus extending the Polestar 2's future in America. And with the European Union now also imposing new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, that line is even more important in South Carolina. Factoring in plans to expand the Polestar distribution network by 75 percent, the brand's future in America looks brighter than it once did, although it's not out of the woods yet.

Uno comes to BMW and is just as stupid as you would expect

With new technology comes new ways to profit. I'm not saying BMW feels almost directionless as a brand, but with the current styling, er, experimentation, the desire to lock everything from adaptive dampers (seriously) to driver assistance systems to in-car video games behind a paywall, we've strayed pretty far from the Ultimate Driving Machine mantra. The latest case? BMW is adding the card game Uno to its cars, but as a video game. It's streamed to infotainment systems via the AirConsole app, and boy, did anyone ask for that?

Mattel, AirConsole and the BMW Group have transformed UNO into a playable connected game in an entirely new environment: the car. Whether a family takes a break on a road trip or a group of friends stops to plan their next move, drivers can use AirConsole's unique game controller system to connect each passenger to the game through their personal device. Up to four players can experience the game, which brings people together through its simple, universal gameplay that transcends languages ​​and cultures. Vehicles must be parked to play.

OK, so if you have a family of five or more, someone has to sit out, and all you can do is play Uno while you're parked. Remind me why that's better than just throwing a deck of cards in the center console storage compartment. Video games can be fun, especially when you're parked and waiting for a fast charge from an EV to a DC charger with subpar charging capacity. But if the video game emulates a deck of cards and requires all the security locks of a video game, what's the point?

What I hear when writing TMD

It's amazing how quickly an artist can go from being a cool new artist to one of your favorites. I was hooked on Brevin Kim's sound when the duo released “No Less Than Three” in 2020, but it's been amazing to see the Massachusetts brothers grow from hyperpop roots to a wide range of sonic palettes. “Boys Night” feels more electronic than some of their previous releases, but it scratches a certain itch, with layered atmospherics, razor-sharp arpeggios, and a yearning for a night with the boys for self-improvement and self-destruction. Sometimes, that's exactly what we need.

The big question

What connectivity features do you really want in a car? I guess the bare minimum is a way to play music from your phone, but what else could be really helpful? Streaming services on the back seat entertainment screens for car journeys with your kids? What3words so you always know where you're parked? A cloud-connected dashcam? Only your imagination sets the limit.

(Image credits: Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Polestar, BMW)