How a Twitter user's dream to drive an electric scooter was dashed

The ever increasing number of fire incidents and accidents being reported about electric scooters are denting demand in an early setback for the emerging EV sector.

As the world moves towards cleaner forms of energy, demand for electric vehicles has soared in the past year. However, with the ever increasing number of incidents being reported about electric scooters, ventures like the Ola Electric face heat in a major setback for the EV sector.

Ola Electric is on fire from irate customers claiming it is not safe.

The incidents have occurred at a time when the union government aims for electric scooters and motorcycles to make up 80% of total two-wheeler sales in the country by year 2030, from the current 2%. These incidents could dent the growth prospect of EVs in the country, according to Reuters.

Multiple electric scooter fire incidents have been reported across the country in the past week, including one made by Ola Electric. This is sparking safety concerns among some consumers, which is an early setback for an emerging sector that the government wishes to promote.

Despite being called India's most ambitious EV programme, Ola Electric has generated quite the heat that the company and its founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, are currently facing.

However, Ola Electric's two-wheeler deliveries have more than doubled in March, making the company the second largest electric two-wheeler seller in the month, only behind market leader Hero Electric.

Nevertheless, here is another incident from an irate customer of Ola Electric that is fueling doubts on whether electric vehicles are safe to use.

A Twitter user by the handle @Themangofellow recounted the events that led him to sell off his Ola Electric scooter in less than a month after he bought it.

"My E scooter dream was very short lived: Used @OlaElectric scooter for a week. Then one day, there was a car parked haphazardly in the middle of the road. I just pulled the scooter back and it activated Reverse mode. When I accelerated further, it went in reverse direction," he wrote.

Detailing the events that unfolded afterwards, he complained about the customer service, saying that his scooter was returned after he gave it for servicing without being touched.

“After a week they delivered it back as it is w/o service folks even touching it. I called up customer care and they apologised saying they were to deliver another scooter & got mine back instead,” he wrote in the Twitter thread.

The user told Hindustan Times that servicing folks took the vehicle two days after the incident occurred, after repeated customer care calls.

Even after getting it fixed, he said he could not muster enough courage to ride the scooter again, and hence, sold it off to his cousin. “I was so excited to own a next gen EV. But that reverse mode activation sent a chill down my spine,” he wrote.

The user also said that he got the scooter a month and a half after he paid for it. “I made the full payment on January 21. After series of delay on the promised date, I got the delivery on March 6,” he said.