An electrical fire was reported at an Ather Energy dealer in Chennai with no casualties reported
Recently, an electrical fire broke out at an Ather Energy dealership in Chennai. The incident took place on Friday and quite a few videos and images have been circulating across the internet since then. A few hours after the fire, Ather were extremely prompt in putting out an official statement addressing the issue.
As per the report, the customer brought a dusty scooter to the service centre and, as per service procedures, the mechanics took it straight for a pressure wash. Thereafter, while removing the body panels of the two-wheeler, they discovered a crack in the top casing of the battery. However, by this point, the water had entered the battery pack.
Even though the battery pack is IP67-rated, water getting in through the crack exposed the 224 cells inside the battery to water leaving no fixable solution for the mechanics. As predicted, the cells had shorted inside the pack, resulting in smoke and fire. As soon as they had realised there was water, the scooter was taken to a secure location, away from the rest of the two-wheelers and the concerned authorities were informed.
Additionally, Ather also found a few non-standard screws of varying lengths that could have potentially increased the stress on the top panels of the battery pack. Ather have requested their customers not to modify the battery areas as India is still familiarising itself with the whole EV architecture.
Right after the incident, Ather revised their pre-service inspection checks, making them more stringent to avoid such mishaps in the future.
