Andhra Pradesh: Electric Bike Battery Explosion Kills Man; Injures Wife, 2 Kids

The victim, K Siva Kumar, was charging the battery of his scooter inside his house, where the explosion took place.

Late March, four electric scooters caught on fire in the span of four days, sparking concerns about the safety of Electric Vehicles.

(Image: Vibhushita Singh/Altered by The Quint)

A day after a 40-year-old man purchased a new scooter, the battery exploded inside his home in Vijayawada, while it was on charge on Saturday, 23 April. The fire from the explosion killed the man and injured his wife and children.

The victim, K Siva Kumar, was charging the battery of his Boom Corbett 14 Scooter inside his house, where the explosion took place.

According to the police, his wife suffered severe burns and is in the hospital while his children were injured but are stable.

How Did It Happen?

As per NDTV reports, Suryaraopet Inspector of PoliceV Janaki Ramaiah said that the detachable battery had been put on charge in his bedroom on Friday night, where it suddenly exploded in the early hours of Saturday morning, while the family was asleep.

The explosion led to a fire in the house, that gutted household items and the air conditioning.

Not The First Instance

Earlier this week, a similar incident killed 80-year-old Ramaswamy in Nizamabad in Telangana. His son’s Pure EV scooter exploded in the living room. In response to the incident, the EV startup said that it would recall 2,000 vehicles belonging to the models ETrance Plus and EPluto 7G in the wake of such instances.

The company added that the vehicles and batteries undergo a thorough check for their health. The batteries will be inspected, said the company.

(Sources: The Indian Express and NDTV)