EV scooter's battery catches fire, burns house down: Here's the ordeal

The company had already replaced the battery twice and still this happened.

BHPian ritesh_44 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My friend’s Pure EV Pluto 7g burnt caught fire and burnt down everything in two rooms in his house, including computers, household items etc. He was facing a heating issue with the battery and it was replaced twice by the company.

It was a detachable battery which he used to charge at home. The company is only offering to replace the battery.

Legally they might be obligated to do that only, but this has been a recurring issue with Pure EV and every couple of weeks one of their scooters is catching fire. Is there anything to be done to escalate this with the authorities?

He has posted his ordeal here.

Here’s what GTO had to say on the matter:

Your friend really has only himself to blame.

1. Ignoring the many incidents of Pure EV fires.
2. Home charging of batteries is too dangerous! This is just asking for trouble.
3. No home insurance.
4. Continuing with home charging, despite 2 defective battery replacements? The writing was really on the wall.

There is already so much bad press around Pure EV that I doubt they’ll be pressurised by such coverage to cover his damage.

Is Pure EV actually designing & developing their products in India (as claimed), or are they simply rebadging Chinese stuff?

Here’s what BHPian The Mechanic had to say on the matter:

Following is my recommendation for straight forward settlement of the issues

1. Damages to the battery – Covered by the manufacturer.
2. Damages to the rest of the particular vehicle – Covered by the particular vehicle’s insurance policy.
3. Damages to the house and other household items – Covered under the house’s insurance policy (Assuming such a policy is present).

Recommendation to Everyone

• Take an insurance policy for your house and its contents. Insurance policy for residential buildings is one of the cheapest insurance you can get in India.
• Just walk into your preferred insurer’s office and ask for a “Bharat Griha Raksha Policy” for your home. Also, add the contents of the house.
• When you are taking coverage ask for a quote for a “long-term policy” like for 10 years as this will work out cheaper in the long run.

Here’s what BHPian shancz had to say on the matter:

Very unfortunate incident and I am glad that no one was physically hurt.

I would like to know what or how did the team at Pure EV “repair” the battery. I bet they didn’t do a thing and passed on the same battery.

I had always feared that with detachable batteries the risk moves from your parking lot to your bedroom and this is a real-life example. Unfortunate but real.

My advice if you have to buy an EV get it from a manufacturer with a solid safety record and who actually invests in developing their own Battery Management Systems like Ather and TVS.

Only then do you realise that EVs are an expensive purchase upfront?

These kit assemblers who call themselves manufacturers are selling you the scooters at twice the purchase price at the very least with no concept of maintenance let alone software. Their only sales pitch is the savings you’ll make by not having to fill in petrol and that’s all there is to it.

There are no free lunches and Chinese quality coupled with Indian negligence in a “cost-saving” situation is a deadly combination.

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