A massive fire broke out in Telangana’s Secunderabad area, where eight people, including a woman staying at a hotel, were killed in the midnight of September 12 when an electric bike showroom broke out. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has now ordered a preliminary inquiry. Fire incident in electric bike showroom. Two experts are visiting the electric bike showroom after submitting the preliminary investigation report, police said. This is not the first time that an electric vehicle showroom has caught fire, a few months back, electric scooter maker Ather Energy’s Experience Center in Chennai caught fire.
“Two experts are on their way to (an electric-bike showroom in Secunderabad) after the police handed over a preliminary inquiry,” the official said. Ten others were injured and were taken to different hospitals, police said. Most of the victims were suffocating. The fire and smoke from the showroom engulfed the hotel Ruby Pride above the showroom, killing the victims.
Concerned over the incidents of fire incidents in electric two-wheelers, the road transport ministry has recently introduced additional safety provisions in the battery safety norms which will come into effect from October 1. Modifications include additional safety requirements relating to the battery cell, onboard charger, design. Thermal diffusion due to fire caused by battery pack, and internal cell short circuit.
Also read: Secunderabad hotel tragedy: Not the first incident of fire in electric scooter showroom
In April this year, fire cases were reported in electric two-wheelers from manufacturers such as Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech and PureEV. This prompted the government to set up a panel to investigate.
MoRTH constitutes an expert committee under the chairmanship of Tata Narasimha Rao, Director, ARCl Hyderabad, MK Jain, Scientist, Center for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Subba Reddy, Principal Research Scientist, Indian Institute of Science and Professor Devendra Jalihal, IIT Madras. did. Recommend additional safety requirements to the existing battery safety standards notified under CMV regulations.
Noting EV fire accidents, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in April warned of penalties if companies found negligence and said they would be ordered to recall defective vehicles.
Following this, Ola Electric recalled 1,441 units of its electric two-wheelers. Okinawa also announced a recall of 3,215 units of its Praise Pro electric scooter to fix any battery-related issues. Similarly, Pure EV has recalled 2,000 units of its ETrance+ and EPluto 7G models.
(with inputs from PTI)