An electric vehicle caught fire on a road in Chennai on Wednesday (March 30) — the third such incident reported in Tamil Nadu in a week.
An office-goer noticed smoke emanating from his electric vehicle and immediately jumped off the bike. The vehicle caught fire immediately. A passersby stopped a water tanker to extinguish the fire but the flames spread rapidly and engulfed the vehicle.
Also read: Centre, police launch probes into Pune, Vellore electric bike fires
Similarly, an electric vehicle caught fire in Manapparai (Trichy) on Wednesday.
Last week, a parked Ola S1 Pro electric scooter caught fire in Pune while in Vellore, a 49-year-old man and his daughter died of suffocation when their brand-new Okinawa electric scooter reportedly caught fire when left to charge overnight.
The Vellore incident happened on March 25 when Durai Verma, 49, and his daughter Mohana Preethi died after their new Okinawa electric scooter caught fire when left to charge overnight. The father-daughter duo died of asphyxiation as the fire spread to their house and they could not get out in time.
Also read: Why electric scooters could catch fire, and how you can avoid that
The Centre has deputed experts who will travel to Vellore and Pune to find out if manufacturing defect could have caused the fire.
Increasing instances of EVs catching fire is a matter of concern for new buyers who have made up their minds to make the switch from petrol to electric. Industry leaders say the rush to launch new models, inadequate testing of batteries are major causes behind these incidents.