Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) said it planned to make its battery management system (BMS) available in all its forthcoming electric vehicles (EVs) to alleviate growing concerns over battery safety following a devastating fire in South Korea last week.

The fire, which started in a Mercedes-Benz EQE in the carpark of an apartment complex in Incheon, injured 27 people and destroyed 100 vehicles. It significantly affected already weak sentiment towards battery electric vehicles (BEVs) at a time of when manufacturers were trying to revive plunging sales in the country.

Hyundai claimed BMS can help prevent battery fires by notifying EV owners and the automakers’ support centres of any battery abnormalities such as overcharging and micro short circuits. The company said it planned to use the technology in all new EVs and would also make it available retrospectively for existing EVs by the end of the year once it had developed the ability to install it through software updates.

HMG said BMS monitors battery charging and discharging data including voltage deviation, insulation resistance, temperature, current and voltage changes, and planned to add new functions which would enable it to detect any potential micro short circuits days in advance.

The company said in a statement: “The current BMS can prevent fires caused by overcharging in advance. The new technology will be able to avoid battery fire caused by short circuits."