In the biggest ever fire incident involving electric scooters in the country, as many as 20 electric scooters from Jitendra EV caught fire near the company's factory in Nashik on Saturday, April 9, 2022. The scooters were being transported to Bengaluru in a container when the incident happened. The company has launched an investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire. No casualties have been reported. The container had 40 scooters in all, and according to some reports, all 40 scooters have been damaged in the fire.
Also Read: Experts Comment On Reasons For EV Fires & The Way Forward
undefinedWATCH | Biggest ever EV fire incident in the country! 20 electric scooters from Jitendra EV catch fire in Nashik | https://t.co/Xb6dS17UTa pic.twitter.com/esw2TqGgTr
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) April 11, 2022
"An unfortunate incident took place on 9th April near our factory gate in a scooter transport container. The situation was immediately brought under control by timely intervention from our team. Safety being of prime importance, we are investigating the root cause and we will come up with the findings in coming days," according to a statement attributed to a spokesperson of Jitendra EV.
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This is the fifth such incident involving fires in electric two-wheelers over the past three weeks. On March 26, 2022, an Ola S1 Pro electric scooter burst into flames in Pune, followed by another fire of an Okinawa electric scooter in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. On March 28, 2022, another incident was reported from Trichy in Tamil Nadu, while a fourth incident was reported on March 29, 2022 from Chennai, where a Pure EV electric scooter caught fire.
Also Read: E-Scooter Fires In India Trigger Safety Concerns
The Government of India has already ordered an inquiry into the increasing number of incidents of fire in electric two-wheelers. With a spate of incidents of fires in electric two-wheelers, the spotlight lately has been on the quality of products, rolled out by dime a dozen brands, and the quality of batteries and battery management systems (BMS) these electric scooters are using. Observers have even questioned the checks and balances to regulate safety and quality of EVS in a segment which has seen tremendous growth over the past couple of years.
