MUMBAI (Reuters) – Softbank Group-backed Ola Electric said on Saturday it had launched an investigation to find out what caused one its electric scooters to catch fire in the Indian city of Pune.
Earlier on Saturday, a Twitter user in the western city posted a video of his Ola scooter bursting into flames.
“We are aware of an incident in Pune that happened with one of our scooters and are investigating to understand the root cause and will share more updates in the next few days,” the company said in a statement.
Lithium-ion batteries, whether used in electric vehicles or electronic devices, can catch fire if they have been improperly manufactured or damaged, or if the software that operates the battery is not designed correctly.
Ola company officials have said previously that the company imports its battery cells from South Korea but plans to start manufacturing them locally.
Saturday’s incident follows complaints by Ola customers about delivery delays in recent months.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Nupur Anand Editing by Rupam Jain and Helen Popper)
