Ola Electric Facing Probe Over E-Scooter Fire in Pune

A Twitter user in Pune posted a video of an Ola scooter bursting into flames.

By Reuters | Updated: 30 March 2022 10:14 IST

Ola Electric Facing Probe Over E-Scooter Fire in Pune

Photo Credit: Reuters

An Ola Electric e-scooter at a charging station in Delhi

Highlights

An Ola Electric e-scooter caught fire in Pune last week
EVs are crucial to meeting India's carbon reduction target
Ola Electric has ordered its own investigation into the incident

India is investigating how an e-scooter built by Ola Electric caught fire at the weekend, with the government worried the incident could cause panic and hamper growth of the nascent electric vehicle (EV) sector, a top bureaucrat told Reuters.

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, EVs are crucial to meeting India's carbon reduction target and reducing its fuel import bill.

"If reasons for the damage are not nipped in the bud, it can spread panic affecting the EV industry," Giridhar Aramane, secretary of India's ministry of road transport, which has ordered the investigation, said.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

"The basic aim is to ensure the truth comes out else it can become murky," he said.

Softbank Group-backed Ola Electric did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sales of electric scooters in India, led by start-ups such as Hero Electric and Ather Energy, as well as Ola, have gathered pace in recent months to make up about 2 percent of total scooters and motorbikes sold.

Ola Electric Invests in Israeli Battery Rech Firm StoreDot

On Saturday, a Twitter user in the western city of Pune posted a video of an Ola scooter bursting into flames. The social media post went viral, forcing Ola to order its own investigation.

The government inquiry, to be carried out by the Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety, a unit of India's defence research arm, could be more of an issue for Ola than customer criticism it has incurred of slow deliveries.

One of India's most popular startups, Ola began selling its electric scooters last year. It produces 1,000 scooters a day, leaving it far off a planned initial target of building two million a year.

Ola S1 Pro Price in India to Be Hiked From Next Purchase Window

The company is best known in India for it ride-hailing cab service, which rivals Uber. Its electric vehicles business Ola Electric is valued at around $5 billion (roughly Rs. 37,846 crore).

Will the 2022 iPhone SE sink or swim? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.