IAT C-MUTE Concept EV Catches Fire At Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition

Barely a day before the 20th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, what seems to be a battery fire broke out at the IAT Automobile booth. The vehicle that suffered fire damage was the IAT’s concept vehicle C-MUTE.

IAT for starts is a Beijing-based vehicle technology firm that focuses on the research and development of vehicles and core components with a credible client list which includes Toyota, Honda, Geely, XPeng and NIO.

As reported by Pandaily, from video via Jiemian the whole IAT booth was covered with smoke and flames which also affected neighbouring booths. It was lucky the firefighters on hand were able to extinguish the flames with no reported casualty. It seems staff members who were cleaning up the booth after the incident were requested by the upper management to not disclose any details with regards to the fire to anyone. The booth was also concealed off with black cloth to avoid prying eyes.

It was also reported staff were requesting reporters to delete any images or footage of the incident in what seems to be an attempt to cover up the incident as IAT Automobile press statement just mentioned fire occurrence at the “working area” due to unknown reason with no mention of the C-MUTE Prototype going up in flames.

IAT Automobile was expected to present two concept cars at the auto show, as well as a high-speed intelligent digital car platform and a low-speed intelligent digital platform. According to the official website, the new platform incorporates technologies such as upper and lower car body separation, integrated casting, chassis by wire, and others that can increase vehicle development and manufacturing efficiency and cut costs.

(Source: Pandaily & Jiemien)