Recently, an Ather 450X was involved in a fire incident. The scooter was partially damaged due to the fire which originated from the wiring harness. No one was injured in this incident.
According to the company’s statement, the connectors to the motor controller were torqued incorrectly. This resulted in sparking around the motor terminals. As soon as this happened, the safety systems in the scooter kicked in and killed the power flow. However, but then the wiring harness had already caught on fire.
Despite the fire, the battery, dashboard and the BMS remained unaffected. Ather once again reiterated that this incident was not due to a thermal runaway event as seen in some other reports.
Ather has admitted that this was a rare human error and has already worked to upgrade the manufacturing process as well as equipment. Further, a two-step verification process has been incorporated as well to prevent such an incident in the future.
There is still the question looming about other scooters. What if this issue has been found in other vehicles as well? And it is not yet known if Ather plans to call for a recall to fix the affected scooters.
That said, the Bengaluru-based startup has been one of the more transparent start-ups in the EV two-wheeler space. Both the Ather 450 Plus and 450X are one of the first electric scooters to be fully designed, developed and manufactured in India.
Ather Energy has rolled out its largest-ever corporate outreach program. This aims to promote e-mobility in India and spread awareness about EVs in the market. This is a month-long program targeted to employees from 2500+ organisations. Under this, Ather is offering benefits worth INR 16,259 in total for the corporate employees to bring home an Ather scooter.
Also Read – Upgrade to Ather with corporate discounts & exchange offers.