Ola Blames Aftermarket Parts For Fire Incident With Its Escooter In Pune

Ola Electric, which was once again in the news last week for one of its escooters catching fire in Pune, has blamed the incident on aftermarket parts.

“We have received a report of an incident with one of our scooters in Pune yesterday. The customer is safe and unharmed. Our investigation has revealed that aftermarket parts used in the scooter led to a short circuit which resulted in the incident,” the company said in a statement.

For the uninitiated, aftermarket parts are replacement parts in vehicles or any other electronic equipment that are not manufactured by the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). 

Ola claimed that as per its findings, the battery of the vehicle remained intact and functional.

“At Ola, safety is the highest priority and we follow stringent vehicle safety & quality standards. We urge our customers to only use genuine spare parts and accessories for all service requirements,” the company added.

As per reports, the incident of the escooter fire took place at a parking area in a college in Pimpri Chinchwad. The fire brigade was able to douse the fire in a while and no casualties were reported.

Safety Concerns About Ola’s Escooters

This is not the first time that Ola Electric has found itself in controversies pertaining to the safety of its vehicles. 

The first fire incident with the company’s escooter took place in Pune in March last year. In July this year, another Ola scooter burst into flames in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.

Besides, last year, an Ola escooter user from Guwahati alleged problems with Ola S1 Pro’s regenerative braking system, which led to an accident and resulted in severe injuries to his son. 

Earlier this year, an unverified user on X (formerly Twitter) complained that his wife was hospitalised after the front wheel of her Ola S1 scooter got detached while riding. 

While Ola Electric made the telematics data of the Guwahati user public, creating legal controversies, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led startup termed the second accident an “isolated” case.

The leading escooter maker also stated that at Ola, vehicle safety and quality standards are of “the highest priority” and Ola S1 Pro is built with “an uncompromising attention to quality in all aspects”.

However, within months, in March this year, Ola Electric announced a free upgrade of the front fork arm for its S1 customers.

Amid all these, Ola Electric has been successful in grabbing a lion’s share of the electric two-wheeler market in the country. The company’s vehicle registration numbers have been surpassing those of competitors like Ather Energy, TVS Motor, Hero Electric, Ampere, and Okinawa Autotech for the last few months.

In fact, Ola Electric continued to rule the market despite being slapped with fines by the government for keeping its vehicle prices lower to claim the FAME-II subsidies.

The company has also been launching multiple new product ranges, with S1X being the latest model. 

It has also announced several new launches in the electric motorcycle segment as well as four-wheelers over the coming years.

Ahead of its IPO, which is expected in 2024, Ola Electric recently raised INR 3,200 Cr ($384 Mn) in a new funding round, which was a mix of equity and debt, from the likes of Temasek and the State Bank of India.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.