Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD said on Tuesday (local time) that a fire broke out in a garage in Shenzhen Industrial Park this morning, Reuters reported.
In a statement, the automaker noted that the garage is a parking area for “test and retired vehicles” and that the fire was extinguished. It also added that no casualties were reported.
BYD’s global headquarters is located in Pingshan District in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Video footage showed the large fire sending thick black smoke into the sky as flames spread across a long section of the multi-storey building and fire engines and police were called to the scene.
Citing experts, a Reuters report noted that electric vehicles burn differently than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, with fires often lasting longer and harder to put out because they tend to re-ignite.
Preliminary investigation rules out battery safety issues
According to a China Daily report, preliminary investigations by the local fire department and BYD have ruled out battery safety issues as the cause of the fire.
The initial investigation further indicated that the incident did not involve any battery-related safety issues, nor did it affect production vehicles or customer vehicles. The fire was caused by improper external design interventions and there was no battery self-ignition or quality issue in the mass-produced vehicles.
According to the report, the authorities and BYD clarified these points to reassure the public about the EV’s safety, emphasizing that the incident was an isolated traffic-related accident, not a defect in the vehicle’s technology or manufacturing.
Previous BYD fires
According to media reports, this is an isolated incident, but not the first. Over the years, several fires have been reported across countries involving China’s largest electric car maker.
In November 2021, a BYD Qin Pro caught fire after a man in Beijing took his family out to dinner and left the car charging. According to reports, the man heard a strange sound while returning, after which the car caught fire. While BYD denied the explosion at the time, it said it was investigating the case. According to media reports, similar incidents have been reported before – in Shenzhen in May 2020 and Yantai and Yuncheng in October 2020.
NationThailand reported another incident in September 2023 where smoke was coming from a brand new ATTO 3 car while charging. BYD Rever Thailand, an authorized distributor, said after the investigation: “After a thorough investigation, our engineers found damage to the wire connected to the 12-volt battery.” In a Facebook post, he added: “The damage created heat that burned through an adjacent air conditioning pipe, causing a refrigerant leak,” noting: “The smoke was caused by the refrigerant reacting with the heat, but there were no flames.
BYD recalls vehicles due to fire risk
BYD recalled at least 6,843 Fangchengbao Bao 5 plug-in hybrid off-road SUVs in January 2025 due to a fire risk, according to a Reuters report. It also recalled nearly 97,000 Dolphin and Yuan Plus electric cars in September 2024 due to a manufacturing defect in the steering control unit that posed a fire risk.
