This is the fourth fire incident involving PureEV scooters. In September last year, two scooters from the company caught fire in Hyderabad, while a fire was reported in a PureEV electric scooter in Chennai in March this year. Electric vehicles from Jitendra EV, Okinawa, and Ola Electric too have been reported bursting into flames in India in the recent past.
PureEV electric scooter on fire in Telangana
In the unfortunate incident which occurred in Warangal in Telangana, a red PureEV Pluto caught fire while being parked on the side of a road. The video showed the e-scooter engulfed in flames and smoke. The audio also captured occasional pop sounds, indicative of fresh lithium-ion cells catching fire in a chain reaction that can only signify a thermal runaway, a prominent cause behind most EV fires in the recent past.
This Warangal PureEV fiasco becomes the sixth such fire-related mishap with e-scooters in India this summer. Over twenty e-scooters so far have succumbed to fire-related incidents in the country. A father-daughter duo had lost their life due to a fire in an Okinawa electric scooter in March in Vellore. In December last year, a 60-year-old man had lost his life when his electric cargo scooter filled the room with smoke while it was being charged at night. The scooter was manufactured by HCD India.
Why are EVs catching fire in India?
Following the spate of accidents, the Road Transport Ministry has directed the Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) to conduct a thorough investigation and report on the issue by end of this month.
Recently, Ather CEO Tarun Mehta had opined that imported batteries being deployed in most e-scooters in the market today are not equipped to deal with the Indian summer. He also blamed lack of adequate testing and development.
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