Search

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.

Advertisement
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
Ola Electric Facing Probe Over E-Scooter Fire in Pune

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

Photo Credit: Reuters

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.

"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.

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.

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).

© Thomson Reuters 2022


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.

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.

Further reading: Ola Electric, E Scooter
 
Show Full Article
Please wait...
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Jio Offering Free 90-Day JioHotstar Subscription With Select Plans
  2. Infinix Note 50 Pro+ Said to Launch on March 20; Live Images, Price Leaked
  3. Apple May Replace iPhone 17 Pro Max With a New 'Ultra' Model
  4. Lenovo Idea Tab Pro With MediaTek Dimensity 8300 SoC Launched in India
  5. Baidu's New Reasoning Model Said to Offer Same Performance as DeepSeek-R1
  6. Poco F7 Ultra, F7 Pro Leaked Renders Hint at Design and Colour Options
  1. Realme P3 5G Price in India, Sale Offers, Key Specifications Revealed Ahead of March 19 Launch
  2. Samsung Game Booster+ App With Controller Key Remapping Reportedly Available in Korea
  3. Google Assistant on Android Smartphones Being Replaced by AI-Powered Gemini
  4. Apple AirPods Production to Begin in India at Foxconn Plant in April for Export: Report
  5. Poco F7 Ultra, F7 Pro Leaked Renders Suggest Design and Colour Options
  6. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake Is Still in Development, Saber CEO Says
  7. Ola Electric’s Unit Faces Two Insolvency Pleas Over Vendor Dues
  8. Apple Reportedly Developing 2 Different Prototypes for Second Generation Studio Display
  9. OpenAI, Elon Musk Agree to Fast Tracked Trial Over For-Profit Shift
  10. Baidu Releases Ernie 4.5 Foundation Model and Ernie X1 Reasoning Model With Multimodal Capabilities
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
App Store App Store
Available in Hindi
App Store
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »