An Ola S1 Pro electric scooter has burst in flames in Pune city raising alarms about quality check and passenger safety for the recently launched product. The entire incident is on camera which has gone viral on social media. The Ola S1 Pro scooter was parked on the side of the road suddenly smoke started coming out and seconds later it burst in flames.
In the viral video, people can be heard shouting about the scooter battery which seems to be the cause of this incident.
Ola e-scooter incident
The incident took place on March 26 in the marketplace of Lohegaon, Pune when a roadside parked blue Ola electric scooter caught fire with flames emanating from inside the body. The good part is that the owner is safe. While the exact reason is not yet known but the high thermal excursion is believed to be the reason.
Since electric scooters run on lithium-ion batteries and they are known to catch fire in case of poor build quality and improper heat management. Also, it is hard to extinguish a fire from a lithium battery. In India, manufacturers are mostly dependent on imports from Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan where Ola itself brings the cells from LG Chem Ltd, South Korea.
Ola Electric has acknowledged the incident saying, “Vehicle safety is of paramount importance at Ola and we are committed to the highest quality standards in our products. We take this incident seriously and will take appropriate action and share more in the coming days.”
In another news, a father-daughter duo died in Vellore when their newly brought e-scooter exploded while plugged for charging in the house. These incidents arise several questions over the safety concern of electric vehicles.
Vellore incident
The incident took place in a house of Vellore, Tamil Nadu on Saturday when the deceased person identified as Durai Varma had plugged his newly bought electric scooter for charging. The e-scooter blew at the night fearing that the person along with his 13-year old daughter locked themselves in the room. The widespread smoke caused suffocation within minutes and ultimately killed them.
The neighbours tried to control the fire but failed and then called the police and fire department for aid. While the reason is yet clear but police suspect the overcharging of EV batteries behind the explosion.
