Last year, about eight incidents of e-bikes, houses, and even e-bike showrooms and a hotel catching fire due to e-batteries exploding occurred in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, killing ten people and injuring many more.
Almost all of the incidents occurred while the e-bikes were charging, and it is suspected that overcharging caused the explosions.
The worst disaster occurred in September in Hyderabad, when eight people lost their lives after a fire broke out in an e-bike showroom in the cellar of a multi-story building and spread to a hotel on the upper floors.
A fire started in Gemopai electric scooters showroom in the building. The fire was started by a short circuit caused by the overcharging of the EVs.
According to police, CCTV footage showed that the smoke first appeared from an e-bike that was being charged.
Officials from the fire department also stated that the fire was caused by an apparent explosion of batteries in the e-bike showroom.
The horrific incident was recorded on CCTV. Smoke emitted from an electric scooter and spread around the vehicle. Within seconds, there was a small explosion, and the vehicle caught fire.
According to investigators, heat generated by overcharging of electric vehicles parked in the basement of the Ruby Pride Luxury Hotel in Kummarguda, Secunderabad, triggered an explosion that killed eight people and injured 11 others.
The investigations revealed that the vehicles had been plugged in for charging for an extended period of time, and the lithium-ion battery pack, which contained a hundred individual battery cells, reacted to overheating and exploded.
A month later, a fire broke out in a motor showroom in Andhra Pradesh’s Parvathipuram district. As many as 36 electric bikes were destroyed in a huge fire in the showroom in Palakonda town.
The fire destroyed e-bikes and batteries stored in the showroom for a special discounted sale on Diwali.
These were not isolated incidents. The Telugu states have seen a number of fires caused by the explosion of e-vehicle batteries.
In August, two electric bikes caught fire in Hyderabad after their batteries exploded while charging. Two e-bikes were destroyed in the first incident, which occurred within the limits of the Kushaiguda police station. T. Haribabu, who had bought two e-bikes, had left both of them charging in front of his house. He came out of the house an hour later to find both two-wheelers engulfed in flames after hearing a loud explosion.
Three days prior, a person was injured when the battery of an electric bike exploded in the NGO colony of Vanasthalipuram.
When Koteshwar Rao turned on the switch to charge his parked bike, it exploded. He suffered injuries on his hands and other parts of his body.
On June 8, an electric bike caught fire while charging in Telangana’s Siddipet district, destroying a house.
On May 11, an electric bike caught fire in Hyderabad. There were no injuries.
On April 23, a man was killed and three others were injured when the battery of an electric two-wheeler exploded in their house in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
Earlier on April 19, an 80-year-old died and two others were injured when an electric bike that was charging caught fire when they were asleep at their house in Telangana’s Nizamabad town.
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