In a recent incident in Yulin, Guangxi, a fire broke out in an electric car shed late at night and quickly spread. According to netizens, hundreds of electric cars were destroyed in the blaze.
A viral video shows flames shooting into the sky at the scene, accompanied by explosions and the blaring alarms of electric cars.
A resident of Yulin told Huashang News on the 20th that on the night of the 19th, a two-wheeled electric car shed near Zhongshan Road caught fire, suspected to have been caused by a charging electric car.
One homeowner said, “The electric car shed in the Olivine Garden (community) caught fire and kept exploding.” “I just returned here, and all three of my electric cars were burned.”
On the 20th, the Yulin fire department stated that the fire had been extinguished with no casualties.
A report cited a netizen in Guangxi who commented that hundreds of electric cars were completely burned.
Other local netizens also mentioned, “It spread to our community. Almost all the electric cars were burnt.” “No wonder I came back home yesterday afternoon and found the shed gone. I thought it was dismantled, but it was actually burnt.”
In recent years, the number of electric bicycle fires in mainland China has been increasing annually, raising concerns about the quality of electric cars.
According to the data from the CCP National Fire Rescue Bureau, there were 7 major fires caused by electric bicycles in 2019, 11 in 2020, nearly 18,000 in 2021 with 57 deaths. In 2022, there were 18,000 reported fires involving electric bicycles; in 2023, there were a total of 21,000 reported fires, an increase of 17.4% from 2022.
Many netizens have expressed concerns, questioning, “With such significant safety hazards, why are electric cars not banned?” “Domestically-produced ones are not good, and joint ventures are not bad.” Some also speculate, “Is this a scheduled mass scrapping to boost domestic demand?”