The model appears to be a Qin Pro with a ternary lithium battery, and BYD announced in April that its entire EV lineup would begin carrying the much safer blade battery.

Car fires are not uncommon, but new energy vehicle (NEV) fires usually get a lot of attention for raising concerns about battery safety.

The official Securities Daily reported today that a suspected BYD Qin Pro parked in an underground garage in Beijing spontaneously combusted around 9 p.m. on November 22, fortunately causing no injuries.

The report cites parking lot managers as saying that the vehicle was charging at a Star Charge charging pile prior to the accident, and that the charging piles in the area are now suspended.

The fire was extinguished in time, the vehicle did not explode and there were no injuries, The Economic Observer said, citing BYD sources.

The vehicle was sold in early 2019, and BYD will cooperate with relevant authorities to further investigate the specific cause of the fire, the source said.

(Image credit: The Economic Observer)

The report cited Star Charge sources as saying that there were no obvious burn marks at the connection between the charging gun and the vehicle, and the preliminary judgment was that the vehicle spontaneously combusted after charging, but the specifics are pending the results of the fire department.

The Qin Pro includes a hybrid version, the Qin Pro DM, and an all-electric version, the Qin Pro EV, and it is not yet possible to determine which version the vehicle is.

The Qin Pro DM has a post-subsidy price range of RMB 136,900-194,900, and the Qin Pro EV is RMB 144,900-199,900.

It is worth mentioning that the BYD Qin Pro is not equipped with the company's blade battery, which claims not to catch fire, but a ternary lithium battery named "BYD NCM 622".

The blade battery is BYD's new power battery product using lithium iron phosphate technology, with ultra-high safety as an important selling point.

BYD's first blade battery-equipped model, Han, was launched in July 2020, and in April this year BYD announced that its entire lineup of pure electric vehicles would begin to be equipped with blade batteries.

BYD is the top-selling brand of NEVs in China, selling 81,040 NEVs in October, up 249 percent from a year ago and up 14 percent from September. This includes 80,003 passenger cars, and 1,037 commercial vehicles.

BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu said last week that demand for BYD DM-i platform models exceeded supply, with orders on hand for up to 200,000 units, and that delivery of those models is now up to four months away.