Fire inside the Okinawa dealership was reported due to an electric scooter parked inside the showroom.
As Mercury levels rise in the country, incidents of several electric scooter catching fire have made headlines in the past few days. Soon after the Ola Electric scooter went up in flame, and an entire truck reportedly carrying over 40 Jiterndra EVs was charred to ashes due to EV fire. And now a new and equally shocking incident has come up to light from Tamil Nadu where in an Okinawa dealership was seen bursting in flames. The fire has been reported due to an electric scooter that caught fire while parked inside the dealership. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the fire was later dozed off with the help of bystanders.
It is yet unknown as to how much damage has the dealership has taken due to the fire, but from the black smoke ball visible in the video (above), it is hard to say if anything of the showroom remains.
In a similar incident, many of the Pure EV dealers are now also alleging defects in batteries inside the electric scooters. “There are problems with the batteries, too. A customer had dropped off a battery with us complaining about a drop in range. The battery exploded in my showroom and caught fire. Fortunately my staff was safe,” says Vivek Ranjan who owns a dealership in Bihar’s Lalganj. (Read full details here)
Meanwhile, Okinawa has also recently recalled 3,215 units of Praise Pro scooters with immediate effect in order to address any battery-related issues.
Why do EVs catch fire?
EVs can catch fire mainly due to three reasons – poor quality lithium cells, cell leakage inside the battery, and mismatch between parameters of battery controller and motor (powertrain).
Note: HT Auto has reached out to Okinawa regarding this incident. This copy will be updated if and when an official response is received
First Published Date: 16 Apr 2022, 06:53 PM IST
