Investigations are going on, according to the local police authorities, who added that this was not a case of arson.
According to the FIR, the scooter, priced at INR149,000, was parked in the garage and went up in flames late at night. The fire also engulfed the scooter owner’s television and caused other damages totalling a loss of INR449,500. The location of the house is around 8km north-west of Nedumangad police station. A copy of the FIR can be accessed here.
The police also confirmed to ET Prime that the company is looking into the cause of the fire.
An e-mailed questionnaire has been sent to the company. The story will be updated with its response as and when it replies.
News of the incident first surfaced on social media in a tweet.
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ET Prime connected with the owner of the scooter who said that the company has been cooperating proactively with his family and has offered to replace the vehicle.
This is not the first time Ola’s S1 range of scooters has been in a fire incident. On March 25 last year, an Ola S1 Pro scooter went up in flames during the day in Lohegaon in Pune. This incident had triggered an investigation by the Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety, an entity under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Ola’s electric scooter has also seen multiple instances of the front fork breaking. Widespread customer complaints on various issues had also initially affected the scooter’s sales, which have since recovered.
The company has aggressive plans to dominate the electric-scooter market and has been building a gigafactory comprising an automobile manufacturing plant as well as a battery manufacturing facility in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.