Celebrations turned into mourning as an electric blast has claimed one more life and injured two people in Vijayawada. Sivakumar (40) probably went to bed happy celebrating the new Corbett 14 electric vehicle he had bought. He plugged the charger into the EV before going to bed. This charger and the EV were both inside his room.
Made by Booma Innovative Transport Solutions Pvt Ltd, the EV scooter blasted during the night. Sivakumar, his wife, and the couple's two children were all caught in the explosion's fire. Sivakumar succumbed to injuries caused by the fire while being shifted to the hospital. His wife and kids are undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
The local police have registered a case, and the investigation continues. This incident has once again raised suspicion over the safety features of electric vehicles available in India. This is among more than a dozen EVs catching fire in India. A man had also lost his life recently due to an EV fire incident involving a PURE EV in Nizamabad, Telangana. A Haryana resident had lost his life in an EV fire in December last year.
Though NITI Aayog has advised the EV OEMs to recall batches of EVs involved in fires voluntarily, the government may now want to take bold steps as the EV fire cases are rising day by day. It is worth noting here that the electric vehicle sector is the fastest-growing segment in India's automobile industry, and it might not take long before the confidence that a few brands have built around EVs is shattered from the mind of consumers.