EV Showroom Fire In Hyderabad Kills Eight: Latest EV Fire Incident Increases Safety Concerns

Electric vehicles are the future and EVs are hailed as the saviour of the planet as they produce zero emissions at the tail pipe. However, electric vehicles have come under the scanner for several safety issues, and this is especially true of electric scooters.

India probably has the highest number of electric vehicle startups. However, very few of these startups are actually investing in research and development. Instead, brands are preferring to import an electric vehicle that already exists and then sell it in India with a different name.

As a result, we in India have quite a few half-baked electric scooters that aren't really suited for our tropical climate conditions. This has resulted in quite a few electric scooters bursting into flames due to overheating and the cell in the battery pack exploding.

In the case of this electric vehicle dealership fire though, the EVs themselves aren't to blame. The fire was caused by a short circuit in the EV charging station. However, the fire soon spread to the electric scooters inside the showroom and within no time, the cells inside the battery pack exploded and a raging fire was found.

The incident took place in the Ruby Pride hotel located in Shivajinagar, Secunderabad. The EV dealership that retailed Gemopai electric scooters was located on the ground floor while the four floors above it were occupied by the hotel.

The toxic smoke from the flaming batteries on the ground floor spread to the rooms in the hotel and overwhelmed those staying on the first and second floors of the building. The fire department was informed and the fire was put out. Those injured in the incident were shifted to nearby hospitals and up to eight people lost their lives in the incident.

Thoughts On Electric Vehicle Dealership Fire In Hyderabad Killing Eight People

Electric vehicles and the infrastructure they need are not as simple as they seem. These vehicles need more R&D than internal combustion engine-powered vehicles and many brands and their dealerships do not put in enough hours when it comes to the R&D. We still have a long way to go in the EV segment and these incidents are just proof that we're still in the nascent stages of EV motoring.