<p>Electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy has blamed an "extremely rare" phenomenon for a fire at its experience centre in Chennai, saying structural breach allowed water to find its way into the battery pack of the scooter, which triggered a thermal runaway event resulting in smoke and fire.</p>.<p>The EV maker said the scooter in question had been brought to the Nungambakkam facility for service after an accident.</p>.<p>The service crew apparently subjected the Ather 450 electric scooter to a high-pressure wash to remove dust and mud that had accumulated on the scooter over time.</p>.<p>The crew later "discovered a crack on the top casing of the battery pack", which, the company believes, was due to the accident of the scooter.</p>.<p>"A structural breach allowed water to find its way into the battery pack of the scooter, which triggered a thermal runaway event," the company claimed.</p>.<p>The EV maker said such an incident has never happened with neither its test vehicles nor any scooters it has sold to date.</p>.<p>"The crack in the casing allowed water into the battery pack - which is both IP67-rated as well as AIS 156-compliant - that made its way to the 224 cells in the pack," said the company, adding it was an 'impossible to solve' scenario in terms of saving the battery pack.</p>.<p>The EV maker also said that the scooter in question had a number of 'non-standard parts' in place of the stock screws surrounding the battery pack, adding that it is increasing the pre-checks for accident cases to avoid such incidents in the future.</p>.<p>The company had earlier said in a tweet that there has been a minor fire incident on its premises in Chennai.</p>.<p>"While some property and scooters got affected, thankfully all employees are safe and things are under control. The experience centre will be operational shortly," the EV company said.</p>.<p>This was the first time Ather Energy came in news for a fire incident as several top EV players are facing government inquiry over battery explosions and fire incidents across the country.</p>.<p>A Hero Photon Electric scooter in Odisha caught fire this week while it was being charged. The incident left the scooter partially damaged.</p>.<p>EV makers such as Ola Electric, Pure EV, Jitendra EV Tech and Okinawa have been involved in earlier EV fire incidents.</p>.<p>A government panel probing EV fire incidents is set to submit its report next week.</p>
<p>Electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy has blamed an "extremely rare" phenomenon for a fire at its experience centre in Chennai, saying structural breach allowed water to find its way into the battery pack of the scooter, which triggered a thermal runaway event resulting in smoke and fire.</p>.<p>The EV maker said the scooter in question had been brought to the Nungambakkam facility for service after an accident.</p>.<p>The service crew apparently subjected the Ather 450 electric scooter to a high-pressure wash to remove dust and mud that had accumulated on the scooter over time.</p>.<p>The crew later "discovered a crack on the top casing of the battery pack", which, the company believes, was due to the accident of the scooter.</p>.<p>"A structural breach allowed water to find its way into the battery pack of the scooter, which triggered a thermal runaway event," the company claimed.</p>.<p>The EV maker said such an incident has never happened with neither its test vehicles nor any scooters it has sold to date.</p>.<p>"The crack in the casing allowed water into the battery pack - which is both IP67-rated as well as AIS 156-compliant - that made its way to the 224 cells in the pack," said the company, adding it was an 'impossible to solve' scenario in terms of saving the battery pack.</p>.<p>The EV maker also said that the scooter in question had a number of 'non-standard parts' in place of the stock screws surrounding the battery pack, adding that it is increasing the pre-checks for accident cases to avoid such incidents in the future.</p>.<p>The company had earlier said in a tweet that there has been a minor fire incident on its premises in Chennai.</p>.<p>"While some property and scooters got affected, thankfully all employees are safe and things are under control. The experience centre will be operational shortly," the EV company said.</p>.<p>This was the first time Ather Energy came in news for a fire incident as several top EV players are facing government inquiry over battery explosions and fire incidents across the country.</p>.<p>A Hero Photon Electric scooter in Odisha caught fire this week while it was being charged. The incident left the scooter partially damaged.</p>.<p>EV makers such as Ola Electric, Pure EV, Jitendra EV Tech and Okinawa have been involved in earlier EV fire incidents.</p>.<p>A government panel probing EV fire incidents is set to submit its report next week.</p>