A Mercedes-Benz EQE Sedan caught hearth and burned to a crisp inside a Florida home-owner’s storage final week, severely damaging the constructing.
The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ Sedan was within the storage when it caught hearth on July 19. In line with Jennifer Ruotolo, the EV was a loaner from Mercedes-Benz whereas her personal automotive was getting serviced. She informed News4Jax that the posh electrical sedan wasn’t even charging when it burst into flames – she would not personal a house charging unit.
“It was parked within the storage, about 22 hours after which it caught hearth. I used to be at work. About 8:30 and my husband heard a hiss and a pop, and he went into the storage stuffed with smoke. It engulfed in flames and exploded,” the Nocatee, Florida resident mentioned.
Footage shared by News4Jax confirmed the storage lined in large flames, whereas pictures confirmed the aftermath of the fireplace, together with the utterly destroyed car, the devastated storage, and the injury precipitated to the remainder of the home, which is now crammed with soot.
Jennifer Ruotolo estimated the damages to her house to be effectively over one million {dollars} however mentioned a very powerful factor is that her household is protected. Her husband was proper on the subsequent aspect of the wall when the fireplace began, however he emerged unscathed, as did the household canine.
The St. Johns County Fireplace Rescue remains to be investigating the precise reason behind the fireplace and urged EV house owners concentrate on the potential dangers related to lithium-ion batteries.
Mercedes-Benz issued the next assertion relating to the incident (by way of Carscoops).
“Any time we obtain a report of such an incident, we take the matter very critically. On this case, we are going to work with applicable officers and consultants to instantly search to find out the foundation trigger in order that applicable subsequent steps could be taken. Please perceive that as our investigation is on-going, we’re not able to remark additional presently.”
It is value noting that the Mercedes-Benz EQE was topic to a recall issued in Could for a high-voltage battery software program error. Extra particularly, the high-voltage battery monitoring system doesn’t alert the driving force of a battery malfunction, which can improve the danger of an harm. Mercedes mentioned its sellers would replace the battery administration system software program, freed from cost.
It is not clear whether or not the EQE loaner that burned in Florida was a part of the recall, however the chances are high very slim contemplating that solely 2 EQE 350+ Sedans have been recalled for this concern.