An electric scooter caught fire in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district on Saturday amid a spate of battery explosions in the recent days, PTI reported. The rider, identified as Satish Kumar, survived unharmed.
In Hosur, Kumar noticed his electric scooter suddenly catching fire from under the seat and jumped off the vehicle to safety. As the scooter went up in flames, residents rushed to help Kumar douse the fire. However, the scooter was completely gutted, the police told PTI.
Kumar bought the scooter made by e-vehicle manufacturer Okinawa Autotech only last year. On Saturday, he was riding from Zuzuvadi to Upkar Layout when the incident happened. He filed a complaint with the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu police station, the Deccan Herald reported.
In April, there have been at least four reported cases of two-wheeler electric vehicles bursting into flames, sparking safety concerns among buyers.
On April 23, a man was killed and his wife and children were injured after the battery of his electric scooter exploded in Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh. He had bought the bike just a day before. The man had started charging the battery around 10 pm before going to sleep and it exploded around 3.30 am.
Similarly, on April 19, an 80-year-old man died after the battery of his electric scooter exploded while it was being charged at his home in Telangana’s Nizamabad district.
A few days ago, 20 electric scooters made by Jitendra EV also caught fire while being transported from the company’s factory in Nashik.
An electric scooter manufactured by startup firm Pure EV also caught fire in March, and in another case a burning two-wheeler made by Okinawa Autotech killed two people. The companies have said they were investigating the incidents.
Pure EV had said it would recall 2,000 units of its models ETrance Plus and EPluto 7G. Okinawa Autotech too had said that it was recalling 3,215 units of its Praise Pro scooter to fix battery problems.
Union Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane said that all such incidents will be investigated, reported PTI. Such fires will not undermine India’s efforts to become a leader in electric vehicles if manufacturers quickly put in place safety protocols, he added.
Aramane added that an expert committee had been formed to look into the matter, but it has not submitted its report yet.
On April 21, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had said that a penalty will be imposed on companies for being negligent in the manufacturing process.
Gadkari, who holds the road, transport and highways portfolio, wrote in a tweet that defective vehicles will also be recalled.
He added that the government has asked an expert committee to look into these incidents and make recommendations.
“Based on the reports, we will issue necessary orders on the defaulting companies,” he had written. “We will soon issue quality-centric guidelines for electric vehicles.”
The panel comprises four experts from Visakhapatnam’s Naval System Development Laboratory, Delhi’s Defence Fire and Explosive Laboratory and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
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