Yet another BEST e-bus catches fire while charging

This is the sixth incident of fire involving BEST buses so far this year and third in less than three months. A few months back, 400 AC buses were withdrawn after a few of them caught fire. According to BEST officials, the issue is bothersome as the bus caught fire while it was being charged. The fire erupted in the battery set placed on the rooftop of the bus.

Mumbai: Yet another Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking’s electric bus caught fire early on Friday while it was being charged inside Malvani depot.

Yet another BEST e-bus catches fire while charging

Following this, BEST undertaking has asked the manufacturer —Tata Motors — to inspect all their e-buses running on city roads. This incident occurred around 5am.

On June 16, an electric AC bus had caught fire in Malvani depot. In both cases, the incidents of fire occurred at the time of charging.

This is the sixth incident of fire involving BEST buses so far this year and third in less than three months. A few months back, 400 AC buses were withdrawn after a few of them caught fire.

According to BEST officials, the issue is bothersome as the bus caught fire while it was being charged. The fire erupted in the battery set placed on the rooftop of the bus.

After noticing the fire, BEST employees immediately removed other buses parked in the vicinity of the affected vehicle, so that the blaze does not spread.

They also tried to douse the flames with the help of fire extinguishers kept on the bus, but it was not of much help. The fire brigade was immediately called in, and the blaze was doused. There were no injuries reported.

Vijay Singhal, general manager of BEST undertaking said that he has instructed Tata Motors to inspect all the electric buses from the lot, to which the affected bus belonged, manufactured by them.

BEST officials added Tata Motors are the manufacturers and also maintain the buses, and so, they will be in a better position to identify the issue.

“It looks like there is some issue related to manufacturing or charging and only their (Tata Motors) technical staff will be able to tell us about the exact cause behind the fire. I have also asked them to inspect those e-buses manufactured by them and are running in other cities too,” said Singhal.

The engineers from BEST said they will study whether the batteries on the bus were overcharged, if there was an issue with the charging system and the batteries; and any other issue. It was a midi (medium-sized) electric bus that was being charged along with several other such vehicles at the charging bay at the depot.

The BEST has asked the manufacturer to narrow down the search by checking the charging time, charger and other related items as both the incidents of fire took place while charging.

“Simply providing environmentally-friendly buses are of no use if these aren’t safe for passengers. The manufacturer needs to inspect the buses in detail,” said Sunil Ganacharya, former BEST committee member.

Sources said that as these buses are a part of the undertaking’s wet lease fleet, maintenance is an issue.