Proton X90 catching fire video – 48V mild-hybrid battery did not explode, Proton investigating incident

Proton X90 catching fire video – 48V mild-hybrid battery did not explode, Proton investigating incident

In response to a video of a Proton X90 that caught fire that has been circulating on social media, Proton has issued a statement on the matter.

“We are fully aware of the incident, and the vehicle is currently under our possession. Our team is conducting a diligent investigation and will work closely with the relevant authorities to determine the cause of the incident,” the carmaker said in its statement.

Proton also clarified that there was no explosion caused by the vehicle’s onboard mild-hybrid (48-volt) battery, and the carmaker has emphasised that investigations are ongoing, and has requested that the public refrain from engaging in speculative discussions.

Launched in May this year, the Proton X90 features a 1.5 litre three-cylinder turbocharged GDI engine, with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system and priced from RM123,800 to RM152,800, with the choice of six- or seven-seat layouts offered.

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Mick Chan

Open roads and closed circuits hold great allure for Mick Chan. Driving heaven to him is exercising a playful chassis on twisty paths; prizes ergonomics and involvement over gadgetry. Spent three years at a motoring newspaper and short stint with a magazine prior to joining this website.

 

Comments

  • Dah Menang Semua on Aug 23, 2023 at 5:00 pm

    Is unacceptable for NEW CAR regardless

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 66 Thumb down 79
    • Celup King on Aug 23, 2023 at 6:47 pm

      Inb4 Tesla killed more people in car fires.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 54 Thumb down 22
    • Pepatah ada mengatakan

      “Sape nak mengaku itu tahinya selepas berak di tengah jalan”.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 3
  • Im not really sure whether Proton is telling us the truth. The hybrid battery is located at the rear of the X90. The video showed that the fire originated from the rear. So, if the hybrid battery was not the cause of the short-circuit or fire, then what else caused it? The exhaust, rear lights or petrol tank??? It’s a brand-new car and we don’t these incidents happening to ICE cars. Please correct me as I may be wrong.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 63 Thumb down 82
    • Raja Kamarul on Aug 23, 2023 at 6:29 pm

      If it was the battery, this car would be a crispy black colour. An explosion in a confined space would release a lot of energy and the window panes would all shatter and break. Logically, this would have been the scenario. I saw on another page a picture of the same car with battery intact. Maybe a phone being charged inside the car exploded? Who knows?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 44 Thumb down 12
    • Celup King on Aug 23, 2023 at 6:53 pm

      You can easily tell if its LiOn based battery fire, they typically burnt to crisp and cause far more damage to the car itself due to LiOn fires are unable to put out with conventional firefighting methods. Go see Tesla cars when they start burning, they don’t stop until it becomes crisp.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 48 Thumb down 4
    • Critical thinking on Aug 23, 2023 at 7:09 pm

      Why burning at C-pillar roof ? Did extra mod or installation at car accessories shop lately?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 2
    • Phaser on Aug 23, 2023 at 9:31 pm

      Yes. You are wrong. So don’t speculate if you don’t know and don’t question the credibility of a company that has never lied to its customers.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 27 Thumb down 16
  • Peppa on Aug 23, 2023 at 5:17 pm

    Classic pLoton issue maa. From CFE engine catching fire risk to this embarassing rebadge

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 37
  • Ben Yap on Aug 23, 2023 at 5:26 pm

    made in malaysia, design by china. that’s how the end product is like.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 44 Thumb down 61
    • Better than designed in India, made in Thailand, assembled in Malaysia WRV bro

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 49 Thumb down 18
      • MiriMari on Aug 24, 2023 at 8:20 am

        Copy from USA built in China and burn in Malaysia. Aku ingat dia orang bakar kete during funeral saja. Highly compelling.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 22
      • at least WRV didnt explode like this x90..LOL

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 17
  • Lavak on Aug 23, 2023 at 5:27 pm

    The Proron X90 48V starter doesn’t even any large battery and motor to begin with.
    It doesn’t able to properly propel the car.

    I also don’t think the cause from 48V battery starter, it could even come from the 12V starter itself. Let’s see the Problem Report.

    Most important Question is does the owner can get full insured Sum back?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 25 Thumb down 2
  • now comment section will hunger games catching fire pulak

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • yusrykru on Aug 23, 2023 at 5:38 pm

    now comment section will hunger games catching fire pulak

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • Kiasso on Aug 23, 2023 at 5:44 pm

    48V battery already Kiasi, imagine 400V-800V battery car.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 17
  • YB Kinte Kunte on Aug 23, 2023 at 5:46 pm

    Until Protong give conclusive evidence as to the safety of the X90..the wisest thing to do…stay away from ordering the vehicle,for now.
    Better be safe than sorry.
    We dont want to kena ” GORENG ” alive,after being tied to a 100 over grand HP loan…make sense ?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 30 Thumb down 40
  • The X90’s battery is located on the right side of the boot space whilst most of the damage and source of heat damage seems to point towards the left side of the boot space.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 0
  • Civic Type L(ol) on Aug 23, 2023 at 6:00 pm

    Doomed…hybrid good for acceleration only. Big heavy car continuously going up hills would eat up your turbo. Unless going 1.8T or 2.0T putting less strain on the turbo.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 3
  • Lawrence on Aug 23, 2023 at 6:10 pm

    Battery may not have exploded, but definitely the burning smoke emitted can only come from a battery, especially since it happened at the rear luggage compartment, but not from the internal combustion engine compartment. Proton should not be hiding its facts.

    Previously, my PREVE CFE was also cheated by the PROTON SC. I had only gone to buy the brake switch (to install it by myself) and the whole trip was less than 30 minutes , but in their invoice, they’d even had the audacity to state that they had already done the recall for the CVT damper, which will require to leave the vehicle overnight at their SC.

    In the end, I’d wrote a strong complaint to their customer care and also to their Chinese boss. Eventually, their staff called me and offered to cancel this recall job from their system. See how evasive and cheating they can be? I’d swear to myself I will never buy another PROTON again.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 34 Thumb down 49
    • DonkeyKong on Aug 23, 2023 at 11:51 pm

      Brother, Li chunrong is a typical chingchong la. Just wanna flog people to work 996 and see growing sales figures. You think he cares about reliability, quality and reputation? Dream on mate. I bet he gets 1 million angry emails everyday that is automatically purged from the mail server because he doesn’t care at all about customer satisfaction and customer retention. This is the chingchong corporate culture.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 46
  • Ur moms car on Aug 23, 2023 at 7:01 pm

    China car quality

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 41
    • Dong gor on Aug 23, 2023 at 8:51 pm

      How many products in your house not made in china? What about the Korean EVs that have been published to have fire risks? So it’s not about where or who made it..this is just a technology and mfg dppm statement

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 22 Thumb down 5
      • Start looking hard at the product you have now. You will hardly see Made in China now. All my electronics are either made in Vietnam or Korea. Even my Redmi phone is made in Vietnam. For apparels, they are made in Bangladesh or Vietnam.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 13
    • Peppa on Aug 23, 2023 at 8:56 pm

      LOUDER

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • bieight8 on Aug 23, 2023 at 7:50 pm

    Buy Chery tiggo 8pro better…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 11
  • David on Aug 23, 2023 at 8:31 pm

    Made in China..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 26
  • Process flow.

    1. Try blaming any modification, else
    2. Try blaming customer usage, else
    3. Try blaming road condition, else
    If all fail, point out Tesla also got catch fire.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 27 Thumb down 36
  • Tesla also catch fire….it’s the battery okay…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3
  • Yang baru dpt x90 tak leh tidur lena resah..nak pakai takut.. kalu pakai pon, org len x berani parking tepi..Nak jual balik xde rege..Bagi le apa pon alasan, bende dah jadi and viral camni, susah nak recover..baik masa jadi tu, suruh treler datang pijak lunyai then jadi kes accident sj, dr jadi kes terbakar..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 15
  • Winner Ong on Aug 24, 2023 at 12:45 am

    To fans of Winner many prosperity to you but now I laughing bcos this is a loser car If no money buy Conti car you better drive your rubbish car until can buy one. Of cos I don’t need toy battery car only my children driving at home myself I burn petrol because I am a winner and laughing at pupil waiting to charging car everywhere some times I want to tiau them but only laughing. Loser stay far far away from me bcos I will surely tiau you cukup cukup so next time you be winner like me.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 13
  • Neva gonna buy (another) proton on Aug 24, 2023 at 8:14 am

    See how many x70 (or 50) on the road, this first time happen, most likely due to the 48v system. yea, Proton not lie, battery didn’t explode, just the source maybe poor 48v wiring, insulation, etc which cause short and fire somewhere. So this is new Proton performance, new Model with high failure rate.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 2
  • Usual Suspects on Aug 24, 2023 at 9:17 am

    Faster. Get rid of all made in china products that you owned.lol

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 36
  • Truly a hot seller.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 16
  • downfall spiralling on Aug 24, 2023 at 9:46 am

    empty promises.. cheap stuff… low quality.. put in bunch of technology but simple basic things still fail. not to forget, if you happen to bang the car… components take ages to get.. installments jalan but no car to use.. learn from others bad experienc

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 26
  • TempeKeras on Aug 24, 2023 at 10:19 am

    Tofu bakar

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 11
  • UsualSuspect on Aug 24, 2023 at 10:59 am

    Hi

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
  • Malaysia & China have made a good product for consumer. Every man made product is non perfection. Just be calm. Don’t add any negative stupid comments because it doesn’t contribute to any betterment. Every defects have its own solution and open ways of improvement. That’s how we live in this world. Even a multimillion space rocket did have defect and destroyed in just few seconds.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 5
  • Laugh on Aug 24, 2023 at 3:07 pm

    It’s been almost 24 hours and there’s nothing from P1 on the cause of fire.
    Guess it’s hard to find a believable excuse.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 12
  • Max_Az on Aug 25, 2023 at 12:52 pm

    If it was the lithium battery fire, you cannot stop it using ABC extinguisher. The incident was most probably electrical issue. Need extensive investigation regardless.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 0
  • dont hide on Sep 07, 2023 at 9:51 am

    it’s been 2 weeks since, any official update from proton on this matter? 2 weeks not enough time to investigate? also need months (like spare parts)? anyway, the public and potential buyers DESERVE TO KNOW!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • X90 is not a new car. It may be new in M’sia but its been around in China, Phillipines etc. So if this was a problem, we would have seen it happen in those countries too. It could be certain things are being localised here to increase local content and those items are not manufactured to the proper standards. Just me guessing

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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