Things seem to be going south for India’s electric vehicle (EV) industry as four incidents of EVs catching fire have been reported in four days. An electric scooter by Pure EV caught fire yesterday in Chennai. It is worth mentioning here that the country has just started to experience the onset of the summer, and there are geographies here where the mercury will touch even 50 degrees Celsius temperatures during peak season.
The incident occurred just days after the government of India had ordered a probe into Ola and Okinawa electric scooters catching fire incidents. The video clip that went viral showed the Pure EV scooter up in smoke near the Mathur Toll plaza in the Manjambakkam area, about 15km northwest of the city.
These incidents have once again sparked questions about the thermal efficiency of electric scooters, battery management systems and EV batteries being used by OEMs of the country. A total of three Pure EVs have caught fire so far, two last year and one now! It is learnt that the company has taken the burnt remains of the electric scooter in its custody and is probing the reasons behind the fire.
“The accident vehicle has been brought to our concerned dealer service station for further analysis,” read an official statement by the company. The company claims that its electric vehicles are enabled with a special mechanism where the smoke gets released immediately if any such things occur inside the battery.
Founded in 2018 by IIT-Mumbai alumnus Sumit Chhazed and Harsh Saruparia, the Bangalore-based startup was one of India’s top 10 electric scooter selling brands in 2021. The company had sold more than 11,000 units during the year.
NB: Photo is representational.
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