On September 9, 2026, a Lynk & Co 900 caught fire under the vehicle along the roadside of a commercial street in Hangzhou. On September 10, the dealership said a passerby's power bank was kicked under the vehicle and ignited it, and denied that the high-voltage power battery had been ignited. Currently, there is no publicly available battery telemetry data or third-party appraisal evidence, and the final determination will be subject to the fire department's accident finding. The model involved, the Lynk & Co 900, is a plug-in hybrid SUV offered with 44.9 kWh and 52.4 kWh battery packs.
A video of a Lynk & Co 900 catching fire at the roadside in Hangzhou has been circulating online since September 9, prompting discussions over whether the ignition point was the high-voltage traction battery. On September 10, the dealer involved issued a statement attributing the cause to a power bank that had been kicked under the vehicle; however, this account is not currently supported by publicly available battery telemetry data or third-party appraisal results, and an official conclusion still awaits determination by the fire department.
Timeline: Fire at 16:06, Dealer Speaks the Next Day
According to source records, the incident occurred at around 16:06 on September 9, 2026, on a commercial street in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Footage taken by bystanders showed smoke and localized flames under the parked SUV, which were subsequently extinguished by firefighters. Based on the currently available video material, the footage itself does not make it possible to determine whether the traction battery was involved in the fire.
On September 10, Hangzhou Lingyue Lynk & Co Center issued an official statement on the matter. The statement said the owner claimed that a passerby dropped a portable power bank, which was then kicked under the vehicle and caught fire; on this basis, the dealer denied that the high-voltage traction battery had been ignited and said the final conclusion would be subject to the fire accident determination letter issued by the fire department.
It should be noted that the owner's account and the formal accident determination are two different levels. As of now, no battery telemetry data, thermal data, or appraisal/inspection results have been disclosed through public channels, and the explanation that “the power bank ignited [the fire]” remains unverified.
External Ignition Sources and Battery Thermal Runaway Are Two Different Pathways
From a technical perspective, a “localized fire under the vehicle” does not automatically equate to “power battery thermal runaway.” According to the source description, the vehicle's power battery pack has an independent protective enclosure, while non-metallic components such as underbody deflectors and mudguards are also present beneath the vehicle. An external heat source may ignite surrounding materials without necessarily causing thermal runaway inside the traction battery—but whether this pathway applies also requires investigative evidence, and there is currently no evidence indicating that this incident falls into that category.
The difference in energy scale is another widely cited argument. A typical 10,000mAh consumer-grade power bank stores about 0.037kWh, while the Lynk & Co 900's traction battery capacity exceeds 40kWh. However, the energy gap itself cannot directly determine whether an external lithium battery can initiate or sustain a localized fire; the outcome depends on the condition of the device itself, its location, and the surrounding combustible materials.
The Vehicle Involved: 44.9/52.4kWh Dual-Battery Options
The Lynk & Co 900 is Lynk & Co's three-row flagship plug-in hybrid SUV. It made its China debut in 2025, is based on Geely's modular SPA Evo architecture, and was later joined in April by a two-row, five-seat version. The model previously completed the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute (CAERI) third-row dual-impact test.
In terms of the electric powertrain, the 900 offers two battery packs, 44.9kWh and 52.4kWh, supplied by CALB and CATL respectively; the larger-capacity version uses CATL's Freevoy hybrid-specific battery. On the chassis side, the vehicle is equipped with height-adjustable air suspension, with ground clearance ranging from 180mm to 234mm.
The Standards Context After GB 38031-2025 Took Effect
When discussing such incidents, another commonly cited reference is the mandatory national standard for battery safety. GB 38031-2025 took effect on July 1, 2026, replacing the 2020 framework and applying to type approval for corresponding new vehicle models.
It must be made clear, however, that compliance at the type-approval level cannot determine the ignition source of a particular real-world accident. The standard answers a product market-access question, while accident determination answers a causation question for a single event; the two cannot substitute for each other.
The Current Boundaries of Confirmed Facts
Taking the currently available public information together, the factual scope is narrower than the dealer's explanation: a Lynk & Co 900 caught fire at an underbody location; the dealer, based on the owner's account, attributed the cause to a power bank; and there is no public data supporting a conclusion in either direction as to whether the high-voltage traction battery was involved in the fire.
What happens next depends on the municipal fire department's investigation. The determination letter needs to clarify the objects involved, including the traction battery, external foreign objects under the vehicle, chassis materials, or other possible ignition sources. Until then, treating either “the power bank ignited it” or “the battery caught fire” as an established fact goes beyond what the available evidence can support.
