Parked Bajaj Chetak Electric Scooter Catches Fire [Video]
Electric vehicles are gaining popularity in the Indian market and with the increase in the number of electric two-wheelers on the road, we have also heard reports of EV fires from different parts of the country. Usually, it is Ola Electric that is the culprit but this time around, we have a video of a Bajaj Chetak that was parked on the roadside and caught fire. Thankfully, no one was injured in this accident.
The video has been circulating on various social media platforms. As per reports available online, the incident was reported from Kolhapur. The fire broke out in the Bajaj Chetak scooter that was parked on the roadside in the Ichalkaranji region of Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
In the video, we see a black-coloured Bajaj Chetak electric scooter on fire. The fire started from the rear of the scooter. We do not get a clear view of where the fire started. The seat of the scooter was up, and it looks like the motor and the wiring in the Bajaj Chetak might have caught fire after a short circuit.
The exact cause of the fire is not known. After the fire, a Bajaj Chetak dealer from the region responded and told PTI that the company is currently probing the matter. He added that since the Bajaj Chetak comes with an all-metal body, only the wiring harness of the scooter was damaged in the fire.
As seen in the video, it doesn’t look like the fire started from the battery. It was probably an issue with the wiring or the motor that caused the fire. Thankfully, when the fire broke out, the scooter was parked and there was no one on it.
In the video, we can see locals trying to douse the fire. They were using a high-pressure water hose to douse the fire, but that is not the right way to extinguish a vehicle fire. If it is an electrical issue, the water would only make things worse. Fire extinguishers or foam should be used instead.
This is not the first time that we have come across a video like this. Last year, a Bajaj Chetak had caught fire in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (called Aurangabad previously), in Maharashtra.
Even in that case, Bajaj had started an investigation and published the findings. The manufacturer had said that the fire had started from the plastic parts of the scooter. They found that the battery and the electric motor of the scooter were fine and were not the reason for the fire.
In this recent incident, only an in-depth investigation will reveal the actual cause of the fire. We hope that Bajaj comes forward with a proper explanation for this incident. The exact variant of the scooter that caught fire in this case is not known. The Bajaj Chetak electric scooter competes with the likes of TVS iQube and Ola S1 range. Prices for the Bajaj Chetak electric scooter start at Rs 1.16 lakh ex-showroom and go all the way up to Rs 1.51 lakh, ex-showroom.