'Incheon Electric Vehicle Explosions' Class Action for Mercedes-Benz Owners..."Fraud contract based on false information".

Evolved in about 8 hours...More than 20 people have been transported and damaged by vehicles
Mercedes-Benz Electric Vehicle Owners' Collective Litigation..."Fraud contract".

[Anchor]
You may remember the electric car fire in the underground parking lot of the Incheon apartment in August.

The fire spread around the area in an instant, causing great damage.

More than 20 people, including the owner of Mercedes-Benz EQE, an electric vehicle model that caught fire, filed a class action lawsuit against Mercedes-Benz headquarters and others.

Reporter Kim Da-hyun reports.

[Reporter]
Last August, an electric car fire broke out in an underground parking lot of an apartment building in Cheongna-dong, Incheon.

The fire was barely extinguished in about eight hours, but more than 20 residents were taken to the hospital due to smoke, and more than 800 vehicles were damaged.

The vehicle on fire is the EQE350+, a Mercedes electric vehicle model,
More than two months after the
fire, 24 people, including the owners of the vehicle model, filed a class action lawsuit against Mercedes headquarters and Mercedes-Benz Korea.

They first said Mercedes had signed a "fraud contract" and stressed that the contract was invalid.

Most EQ series electric vehicles were equipped with Chinese-made batteries, but Mercedes hid them and falsely notified them as if they were loaded with CATL batteries, the world's No. 1 battery manufacturer.

[Ha Jong-sun / Litigation Agent: If (Vice President Bentz) says CATL is fitted without mentioning the parasis most of the vehicles are fitted, this is deception by cover-up....]

After the fire accident, Mercedes-Benz tried to hide the vehicle's defects without taking any recall measures, and argued that it should bear punitive damages.

Despite the high risk of battery thermal runaway, Mercedes did not have the proper design or device to prevent it.

[Bentz EQ Series electric car owner: I felt a lot of anxiety after the Cheongna accident. Why do I have to worry about this with this electric car that I bought for a good purpose....]

The borrower is asking for 10 million won to be compensated for one person.

However, according to the results of the Fair Trade Commission's announcement on Mercedes-Benz false advertisements, the amount charged will be higher.

I'm YTN's Kim Dahyun.

Photographer: Choi Sung-hoon, Lee Gyu
Design; Lee Wonhee