Mercedes-Benz customers claim they’ve been deceived as to who manufactured the high-voltage batteries in their EVs as the fall out over the viral EQE explosion in Korea continues.
According to Korean news publication Korea JoongAng Daily, the German automaker marketed their vehicles as using batteries from Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) when, in fact, they were using batteries sourced from unknown supplier, Farasis Energy.
This came to light as car manufacturers have begun revealing the manufacturer of their EV batteries in an attempt to allay fears.
Founded in 2009, Farasis Energy has a history of recalls due to fire risks. In 2021, BAIC recalled around 21,000 EVs equipped with Farasis batteries over potential fire risks over battery defects.
The decision to work with Farasis was born out of a stake acquisition as well as a supply deal with Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. It was also considered as a cost-saving effort in the part of Mercedes-Benz.
Daimler signed a 10-year supply deal with Farasis in 2018. In 2020, Mercedes then acquired a three percent stake. Since 2022, Farasis has turned into the major battery supplier for EQE EVs.
From the Korea JoongAng Daily report:
“It’s definitely an intention to deceive customers. How could a luxury brand like Mercedes use batteries from a brand that no one has heard of and never notify us?” said Jeon Kang-hwan, an owner of a Mercedes EQE 350+.As a result, 300 Mercedes-Benz owners in South Korea are preparing a class-action lawsuit against the German luxury brand for consumer fraud.
“I would never have bought a Mercedes if I knew my car was powered by Farasis batteries or even if the automaker mentioned nothing about the battery brand,” Jeon said. “I purchased the car just because it was marketed as having CATL batteries.”
While all this is happening, Mercedes-Benz EQE EV sales have tanked in South Korea dropping 89 percent compared to August of 2023. The brand’s other EVs didn’t escape scrutiny as sales of the EQS EV dropped 82.4 percent, while the EQA plunged 57 percent during the same period.
A Mercedes EQE sedan burst into flames in an underground parking lot in Incheon on Aug. 1, damaging as many as 880 vehicles parked in the garage and inflicting weeklong electricity and water supply outages on some 1,600 households.
It later turned out that Mercedes used batteries from Farasis in all EQE models on South Korean roads and in some higher-level EQS models.
Farasis Energy Gan Zhou Co Ltd. A Chinese company
ReplyDeleteWould you rather have the dangerous 1star raize or the explosive Chinese batteries parked in your house or condo building? I know my answer
ReplyDeleteHow about neither? Not everything is black and white. We have more than two choices.
DeleteWonder what battery brand has been installed with the local units?
ReplyDelete