Electric scooter goes up in flames in Chennai, fourth such incident in four days

In the latest incident, a Pure EV electric scooter caught fire on the outskirts of North Chennai near Mathur Toll plaza in the Manjampakkam area.
Electric scooter catches fire in Chennai
Electric scooter catches fire in Chennai
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In the fourth such incident in four days, an electric scooter from Pure EV caught fire on the outskirts of North Chennai near Mathur Toll plaza in the Manjampakkam area. This comes after two similar incidents were reported in electric two-wheelers manufactured by Ola Electric and Okinawa Autotech. Another incident of an electric scooter catching fire was also reported on Monday from Trichy in Tamil Nadu.

In the 26-second video clip, thick smoke can be seen emanating from the red-coloured Pure EV electric scooter parked on the roadside. This is reportedly the third incident of fire in a Pure EV electric scooter after two incidents in September last year. 

The company said in a statement that it has taken cognisance of the incident and the accident vehicle has been brought to the dealer service station concerned for further analysis. "We are investigating the incident and will do a thorough assessment. We adhere to the highest safety standards through rigorous internal testing as well as special phase change materials being implemented in our battery packs to avoid rapid fire/blast kind of scenarios,” the statement added. 

Meanwhile, the recent tragic incident in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district where a man and his daughter died after their e-bike went up in flames has woken up the government, and the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry has ordered a probe. The government has asked independent experts to find the root cause and submit their findings within a month, according to sources. 

The Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) has been asked to probe the circumstances that led to the incident and also suggest remedial measures, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

In a letter to CFEES, the ministry has also asked it to share the findings along with the remedial measures for improvement and to prevent such incidents in the future.

The government was forced to intervene after two back-to-back fire incidents over the last weekend with the latest e-scooters alarmed the industry stakeholders. 

First, a blue-coloured Ola S1 Pro e-scooter that was parked on the side of a road in Pune was spotted catching fire. The e-scooter burst into flames that soon engulfed the entire vehicle. The company said it was investigating the incident.

On Saturday, Ola Electric said it was investigating the incident of its electric scooter catching fire in Pune and that it would take appropriate action.

A video of the company's electric scooter catching fire was widely circulated on social media with users raising questions over the safety standards of the vehicle.

Reacting to the incident, Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal had said, "safety is top priority. We're investigating this and will fix it".

After that, an Okinawa e-bike went up tragically in flames due to an electrical short-circuit in Vellore, which eventually led to two fatalities.

As per the police's statement, the user plugged the charger of his bike into an old socket in the entrance to his house and went to sleep.

An electrical short circuit led to the e-bike going up in flames. The police stated that the socket might be an old one with less voltage capacity to charge an e-bike.

Police said it will summon employees from the showroom from where the electric scooter was purchased. "Those from the showroom where the bike was purchased will be called in on Thursday (March 31) for enquiry. They are to be asked why the fire accident might have taken place and other details will also be probed,” a source from the Bagayam police station told TNM. 

Okinawa Autotech said that they adhere to the highest quality standards in their electric scooters.

"This particular case has further brought to light how important it is for users to understand the correct usage and charging guidelines for EVs," the company said in a statement.

"We are taking a lot of initiatives to create awareness and educate our customers on the proper usage of electric 2-wheelers and about the possible hazards that they could experience in case of any negligence in taking proper care of the battery of the vehicle," the company added.

With agency inputs

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