Another electric vehicle (EV) burst into flames in Telangana, this time in Hyderabad’s LB Nagar on the evening of Wednesday, May 11. No injuries or casualties were reported as a result. The vehicle was from Pure EV, a company which had recently announced its decision to recall 2,000 vehicles after instances of their scooters’ exploding. In one such instance, an 80-year-old man died in Telangana’s Nizamabad, for which police booked Pure EV. 

The explosion at LB Nagar happened around 9 pm on Wednesday. The owner of the e-scooter, Vikram Goud, works as a food delivery worker. He told TNM that he bought the vehicle less than two months ago, and it cost him about Rs 89,000. He was going to a restaurant to pick up an order when the vehicle suddenly stalled. “I tried turning it off and on a couple of times, but that didn’t work. I opened the boot to check if the switch next to the battery had turned off. There was a lot of smoke, and there was a fire within seconds,” Vikram explained.  

In the previous incident in Nizamabad which happened on the night of April 19, an 80-year-old man named Ramaswamy died and two others were injured when the electric scooter exploded in their house. Police said Ramaswamy’s son had been using the electric scooter for about a year. They said the incident happened when the vehicle’s detachable battery, which was being charged inside the house, burst into flames around 4 am. Police registered a case under Section 304A (causing death due to negligence) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) against Pure EV.  

Read: Explained: Why electric vehicles are catching fire and what you can do

Apart from Pure EV scooters, instances of Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech and Jitendra EV scooters catching fire have also been reported in recent times. In March, a Pure EV scooter had caught fire on the outskirts of North Chennai near Mathur Toll plaza in the Manjampakkam area. 

Also read: 

Rise in EV explosions: Union govt says negligent companies to be penalised

Union Transport Secy says all incidents of EV scooters catching fire to be probed

An e-bike burst into flames at LB Nagar in #Hyderabad on Wednesday evening. The owner Vikram Goud had bought the PURE EV bike two months ago for Rs 89,000. pic.twitter.com/cubPhRMIfA

— TheNewsMinute (@thenewsminute) May 12, 2022