EV fire – Okinawa electric scooter showroom in Mangaluru catches fire, several scooters destroyed

• An Okinawa electric scooter showroom in Mangaluru has reportedly burnt down.
• Okinawa has claimed that the incident was caused by a short circuit.
• This is the second Okinawa showroom to burn down this year.

In yet another setback to the electric vehicles industry in the country, an Okinawa electric scooter showroom in Mangaluru, Karnataka reportedly burnt down, destroying several scooters being showcased.

According to a report by Udayavani, an Okinawa dealership named Smart City Motors in Naguri, owned by a person named Hamid caught on fire during the early hours today.

Hamid lives above the showroom with his family and his wife was reportedly the first person to notice smoke emanating from the showroom around 7 am and alerted her son.

Soon after the fire was reported, fire service personnel reached the location and doused the fire. While the showroom has been gutted, fortunately, there have been no casualties.

Hamid’s son informed Udayavani that the main MCBs at their house tripped several times and they dismissed it, attributing it to power disruptions caused by rain.

Update at 5 pm - Okinawa has reached out to Business Insider India with an official statement about the incident.

"We are aware of an unfortunate fire incident at one of our showrooms in Mangalore this morning. As stated by the dealer, the fire was caused due to an electric short circuit. We are in touch with the dealership and we are extending all the necessary support. Safety is at the core of Okinawa Autotech and we want to assure that the highest standards of safety are maintained in our dealerships across the country," Okinawa said in a statement to Business Insider India.

Not the first incident with Okinawa

In April this year, an Okinawa dealership had burnt in Chennai, resulting in several scooters being destroyed before the fire was controlled by the locals.

In the same month, Okinawa had also recalled over 3,100 Praise Pro electric scooters, claiming it was part of a “comprehensive powerpack health check-up”. The company had claimed that it will check the batteries for any damage and repair them free of charge.

The regular fire incidents have had a bad impact on the brand. In May, the company reported a decline of nearly 20% in sales compared to April.

Earlier this week, a Tata Nexon EV reportedly caught fire and the government has ordered a probe. The government is already investigating the electric scooters that have burnt over the last few months. The NITI Aayog had also asked EV companies to recall batches involved in fire incidents.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had submitted a report reportedly blaming companies like Okinawa and Pure EV for using "lower-grade materials to cut costs".

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