With only 6,000 kilometers on the odometer, the front of the e-Niro still looked nearly new, but its fate was sealed: it would stay in the scrapyard to serve as a source for spare parts.
Where dismantlers once mainly dealt with engines, exhaust systems, and gearboxes, they now also face high-voltage batteries, software, and electronic modules. The incident with the burned Kia shows how much the field has changed — and that electric cars can sometimes prove surprisingly resilient, even after a fire.