Almost fully charged electric vehicles will be discouraged from entering apartment underground parking garages to prevent overcharging that is often blamed for EV fires, the Seoul city government said Friday. The city government said it will push to block the entry of EVs that are more than 90 percent charged into apartment underground parking lots, as part of measures to prevent EV fires. The latest measure comes as excessive charging has been identified as a major cause of EV fires, along with external impact and battery defects. Thus industry experts have called for setting limits on the EV charging rate. The city government said it will revise its apartment management guidelines by the end of next month to recommend that only EVs with a maximum charging rate set at 90 percent or less be allowed to enter underground parking lots. Each apartment complex has its own management rules based on the local government's guidelines. In addition, the city government plans to allow automakers to set a 90 percent charging limit if requested by EV owners and issue charging limit certificates to such vehicles. A string of recent EV fire accidents have prompted local authorities to devise comprehensive countermeasures. Last week, an imported EV exploded in the underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, causing 23 injuries and burning or damaging about 140 cars. Source: Yonhap News Agency