Colomiers (Haute-Garonne) : and if the stocks of lithium batteries was to burn down?
Toulouse : in the face of a “dramatic” situation INDIGO weel has withdrawn its 350 bicycles and 500 electric scooters
France3 Occitanie, 17 December 2021
Due to the fire on the night of December 13 at its operational base in Colomiers (Haute-Garonne), INDIGO weel has been obliged to withdraw all of its electric bikes and scooters from Toulouse. Until further notice. These withdrawal operations will be completed by Christmas Eve.
The fire was in a hangar in the town of Colomiers (Haute-Garonne) on the night of Monday December 13. In the building the lithium batteries of the company’s fleet of bicycles and scooters specialising in “soft mobility” were stored. The cause of the incident is still unknown.
“Several weeks” will be “necessary to allow the service to be resumed”. On the evening of Friday 17 December, INDIGO weel described the situation as “dramatic”: “our 3000 square metre premises and the several hundred vehicles inside were completely burnt down.”
This is a new blow for the company. The operator of electric scooters and self-service bicycles, which has been in Toulouse since 2018, suspended its activity for several months in ‘La Ville Rose’ due to damage to its vehicles. More than 350 bikes had just been redeployed during the month of October.
Complement
La dépêche du Midi,14 December 2021
The Indigo Weel company, which launched its self-service bicycles and scooters in Toulouse in 2018, has suffered a setback. During the night of 13 to 14 December, the hangar that housed the vehicle maintenance and scooter battery recharging workshop in Colomiers burned down completely.
“Several hundred vehicles inside burned down, the company told “La Dépêche du Midi” today. An investigation has been opened and “no lead” is being given. “No injuries have been reported and initial environmental studies have not detected any traces of pollution in the surrounding area. Indigo Weel’s teams are working hard to remove the bikes and scooters from the streets of Toulouse. “These operations will be completed by the end of next week,” says the management.
Since 2018, Indigo Weel has become a major company in the department. It has a fleet of at least 1,500 bikes and 500 scooters. Several employees could find themselves employed part-time. But the site manager prefers to wait and see. “It’s too early to say what the consequences will be. We need to discuss it at a meeting”. In the meantime, an investigation has been opened by the public prosecutor’s office to find the origin of this fire. Investigations have been entrusted to the national police.
