Aug. 29 (NBD) -- An EX5 SUV of China's electric car startup WM Motor, which has drawn investments from technology giant Baidu and Tencent, burst into flames at a public parking lot of WM's Chengdu research center last Saturday.

In response, the electric vehicle maker made an announcement the next day, saying the burned EX5 is an experimental car under several rounds of destructive testing and was at the end of its life cycle. But the car hasn't been completely dismantled, and the fire might be caught by a short circuit.

Subsequent investigation shows that a researcher violated management rules of end of life vehicle (ELV) by charging the car without permission and the person has been punished, an insider at WM Motor told NBD.

However, some people don't go for such answer, questioning why an ELV is in a public parking lot.

In this regard, the insider further explained that some parts of the experimental car need to be repeatedly dismantled so as to test its endurance. Therefore, when there were too many experimental ELVs to be dismantled, some may not be parked in required location, the person underlined.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that WM Motor has been entangled in a battery issue. Two months earlier, an electric vehicle of Yema Automobile that used battery from Godsend Power was caught fire. WM Motor also received wide attention as it shares the same battery supplier with Yema.

But there should be no worries about battery because the experimental car was not equipped with high density battery that is used on mass-produced models, noted the insider. 

Production cars that will be delivered by the end of September this year are all equipped with high density VDA batteries, with major suppliers including CATL and Tianjin Lishen BatteryJoint-Stock Co Ltd. WM Motor now holds over 10,000 pre-orders and the incident hasn't exert a material impact on it, said the source.

However, it is noted that some buyers still cancelled their orders after the incident. But most of pre-sale buyers and potential buyers pose a wait-and-see attitude and will not make a choice before they see the model and weigh the sell price in person.

WM Motor is now building its retail network for its mass delivery. So far, the compay has 16 networking partners in 15 cities. In addition to Beijing, Chengdu, and Shenzhen, WM Motor will open pop-up stores in Shanghai next month to pick up more orders.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn