Unhappy Customer Sets Bajaj Electric Auto On Fire In Front Of Dealership (Video)
The video of a man setting an electric autorickshaw on fire is now going viral. This shocking incident is from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur. The man who set the vehicle on fire accused the company of delivering poor service support. As can be seen in the clip, torching the vehicle created panic among bystanders and nearby vehicles and took place in broad daylight.
This incident happened near PC Bhandari Bajaj in Jodhpur’s 5Th B road. The clip opens by showing a man pouring petrol onto the roof and windscreen of an electric autorickshaw- a Bajaj RE E-TEC 9.0. Later, he empties another bottle of petrol into the interior, seats, and handlebar of the vehicle. He then sets it on fire. As flames engulf the electric rickshaw, he watches it from a distance. A woman, likely to be his wife, is seen screaming, horrified by the sight.
This act took place on a public road, with people and traffic around. Several vehicles can be seen parked nearby. Others can be seen moving on the road. Bystanders watched in fear. The fire escalated quickly and the people around rushed to safety. In the second half of the video, we see the woman hugging the man and crying in pain and fear. Later, he shouts at the dealer even as the lady continues to cry.
The man who set the autorickshaw on fire was later identified as Mohan Solanki. He alleged that the dealership sold him a faulty vehicle. He said that the battery has been malfunctioning since purchase and he had to face significant drop in usable range. He reportedly raised several complaints with the service center.
Solanki alleged that the issue was never resolved. Days before the incident, he even had to tow the vehicle to the service center. The issue, however, was never resolved fully.
Solanki was highly frustrated and pushed to the edge by the way the dealer allegedly treated his concern. Eventually, he acted in a fit of rage and burnt the e-rickshaw in front of the dealership. The motive may have been to draw more attention to the issue. The fire destroyed the vehicle almost completely, as seen in the clip.
According to reports, the Bajaj dealership has denied Solanki’s allegations. Harish Bhandari, who owns the dealership, told The Free Press Journal that the vehicle had been thoroughly inspected by his mechanics and no issues were found. He also mentioned that the man had been asking for a full replacement without valid technical reasons.
This isn’t the first time we have come across frustrated owners destroying their vehicles in front of dealerships or after-sales car facilities. The vehicle in this case was an EV, and the chosen mode of destruction was torching- that’s a dangerous combination.
If the fire had managed to reach the e-rickshaw’s battery pack ( which, in this case, is an 8.9 kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate unit), it could have triggered a dangerous chemical reaction which is quite difficult to manage. It may have caused vapour clouds or thermal runaway (the self-sustaining process in which a single overheated/burning cell triggers a chain reaction in neighbouring ones.)
All these may have caused harm to nearby people and property. Luckily, the fire did not escalate too much in this case. Nobody was injured either. The police has reportedly launched an investigation into the incident.