Electric car battery explodes in China while charging

Store employees were captured on video fleeing from the fire

A battery for an electric vehicle has exploded while charging gin a shop in China.

A video of the incident was captured by in-store security cameras, which caught the moment the battery began to smoke as an employee stood nearby.

Within seconds a large flame exploded out of it, filling the shop with smoke and causing people nearby to flee.

Authorities at the Ministry of Emergency Management’s Fire and Rescue Bureau warned people against charging large batteries indoors.

High-capacity batteries used in electric vehicles have raised concerns in recent years following several high-profile incidents.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently launched an investigation into Tesla over fears that battery defects in its electric cars may have resulted in fires.

The defects allegedly relate to "high-voltage battery fires that are not related to collision or impact damage to the battery pack", according to the federal agency.

In February, a man in Florida died when his Tesla Model S crashed and caught fire. A parked Model S also reportedly caught fire in Hong Kong, prompting to Tesla to issue an over-the-air update to limit charging capacity on Model S and Model X cars to 80 per cent.

The battery update resulted in numerous complaints from Tesla owners about a decrease in their car's range.

Tesla said the measure was taken out of an "abundance of caution" and no further incidents have been reported.