Tata Motors launches probe into Nexon EV fire incident

Auto major Tata Motors has launched an investigation into the incident in which a Tata Nexon EV caught fire in Mumbai late on Wednesday. The incident involving Tata Nexon EV, the most popular electric vehicle in India, is the first case of an electric car catching fire in the country.

"A detailed investigation is currently being conducted to ascertain the facts of the recent isolated thermal incident that is doing the rounds on social media," says Tata Motors in a statement.

The incident reportedly happened in Vasai West, Mumbai. The video of Tata Nexon EV catching fire has also gone viral on social media. "We will share a detailed response after our complete investigation," adds Tata Motors.

The company launched an extension to Nexon EV on May 11, 2022, at the starting price of Rs 17.74 lakh (ex-showroom). It is powered by Ziptron tech and comes in two trim options – the Nexon EV Max XZ+ and Nexon EV Max XZ+ Lux.

Following yesterday's incident, Tata Motors says it remains committed to the safety of its vehicles and their users. "This is the first incident after more than 30,000 EVs have cumulatively covered over 100 million km across the country in nearly 4 years," it adds.

The car reportedly caught fire after the owner charged the car at his office. Soon after starting the drive, he received some warning signs on the dashboard, and stepped outside. Later, firefighters reached the spot and doused the fire.

Reacting to the development, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said EV fires will happen. "Happens in all global products too. EV fires are much less frequent than ICE fires," he adds.

The incident comes amid a string of cases in the recent past, in which many electric two-wheelers caught fire, even leading to the deaths of many people. This forced the government to issue warnings to EV companies to ensure the safety of EV owners or face severe penalties. The government said electric vehicle makers should voluntarily recall all defective EVs. “We will issue necessary orders to the defaulting companies. We will soon issue quality-centric guidelines for electric vehicles,” said transport minister Nitin Gadkari.

On March 25, an Okinawa e-scooter claimed the lives of two people in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. The Ola S1 Pro caught fire in Pune on March 26, the video of which went viral on social media. No one was hurt in the incident as the vehicle was parked when the incident happened. The Bengaluru-based company decided to conduct a pre-emptive diagnostic and health check on as many as 1,441 scooters. Ola said it was a "thermal incident", which could be an isolated one.

On April 11, 40 Jitendra EV e-scooters had caught fire all of a sudden, as they were loaded on a transport container. On April 20, one person was killed and two others were injured in a house in Nizamabad, Hyderabad after the battery of a Pure EV e-scooter exploded while it was being charged. PURE EV later recalled 2,000 units from the ETRANCE+ and EPLUTO 7G models following incidents of fire. Okinawa Autotech, the second-largest e-scooter retailer, also announced a voluntary recall of 3,215 units of Praise Pro scooters.