In yet another shocking incident, according to a Times Now report, a electric scooter was caught up in flames wherein a Pure EV electric scooter went ablaze. The report states that a Pure EV electric scooter (ePluto) caught fire in the Manjampakkam area of Chennai. The electric scooter can first be seen engulfed in a cloud of white smoke on the side of a road. Interestingly, this is the fourth incident of an electric scooter catching fire in India over the last few days. An Ola electric scooter caught fire in Pune followed by an incident of an Okinawa electric scooter going up in flames due to a suspected short circuit, claiming two lives.
Another incident of an e-scooter catching fire came to light earlier this week from Trichy, Tamil Nadu. This is the third case involving a Pure EV electric scooter; a case of two Pure EV scooters going up in flames was reported in September last year. Pure EV is investigating the incident, the scooter is now at the service centre being analysed. The manufacturer said, “We have taken cognizance of the incident reported with one of our customer vehicle in Tamil Nadu and preliminary information has been obtained from the concerned client and our dealer. The accident vehicle has been brought to our concerned dealer service station for further analysis. We are investigating the incident and will do a thorough assessment. We adhere to the highest safety standards through rigorous internal testing as well as special phase change materials being implemented in our battery packs to avoid rapid fire/blast kind of scenarios.”
The statement also said “PURE batteries come with the state-of-the art thermal management system, which is a combination of the electronics coupled with multiple active/passive materials, to avoid the thermal-runaway events. We also have a special vent mechanism so that the smokes get released immediately whenever there is any kind of event inside the battery, otherwise, a pressure cooker kind of scenario can take place, leading to sudden blast/explosion. Although we are yet to receive the full information in the enclosed thermal run away investigation form, however the preliminary information revealed that the white smoke has come out for long time (which is due to the melting of the organic based phase change materials) for many minutes, followed by the controlled thermal run away event and finally leading to the uncontrolled fire. ”In the light of incidents involving the Ola electric scooter, the central government ordered a probe into the incident; the Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) has been asked to probe the circumstances that led to the incident. CFEES stands for Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety. The ministry also wants CFEES to suggest some remedial measures for improvement in each of the cases.