Just when all the fire accidents around EVs seemed to have calmed down, a video surfaced of an Ather 450X that was damaged by fire. Following the incident, Bangalore-based Ather issued a statement explaining the incident.
According to Ather, the reason behind the fire was due to an incorrectly torqued motor controller connector, which caused a spark, resulting in the fire accident. The onboard safety systems did kick in to shut down power, but the wiring harness had already caught fire.
Ather claims that the incident was not due to a thermal runaway event that caused the fire like in most previous reports of other vehicles catching fire, as the dash, battery pack, and the BMS were unaffected.
The company also said that this was due to a rare human error, and the company has incorporated a two-step verification system to prevent such occurrences in the future.
Nobody was harmed in the incident, however, it does spark a question as to if Ather will issue a recall for that certain batch of scooters. Ather has been one of the few companies that has not had any such fire accidents in the past, apart from one incident that involved one vehicle that met with an accident and caught fire after water entered the battery pack at Ather’s experience centres.
