Ola Will Finally Recall 1400 Electric Scooters Due To Faults; Admits That There Is A Problem

Ola Electric Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said that the company may recall a few  batches of electric scooters depending on the recommendations from probing agencies.

He assured that world-class agencies have been hired to find out why the Ola electric scooter caught fire.

The company will also look out for defects if any.

Background

For context, in recent weeks, scooters from Ola Electric, Pure EV, Okinawa Scooters, and Jitendra Electric Vehicles have been caught on fire.

On March 28, the government pulled up an expert team to investigate the incidents.

On April 7, it summoned the technical teams of Ola Electric and Okinawa Scooter for an explanation.

Government Actions

One of the consequences of these incidents has been that testing requirements for batteries, battery management, and cells are now being updated.

The government is in talks with companies involved and are being instructed on the procedures required to prevent future fires

If required, the government can provide manufacturers instructions on what steps they must take.

The government is also modifying quality assurance and quality control criteria.

Customer Complaints

Ever since the Ola Electric scooter was launched, customers reported issues with battery performance along with instances of the battery draining out if unused for a few days, and accidents.

Aggarwal commented on the issues and said that the company is aware of and is resolving them. 

He said that his company is garnering more attention since it is a “new entrant.”

But they are “confident about [their] product and about growing market share.”

Meeting Standards

Furthermore, Ola Electric gets its cells from LG in Korea, but the battery pack is manufactured and assembled in India.

Aggarwal said that all its electronic components are from East Asia, but not from China. Rest is all made and assembled in India

He defended the firm, saying that it meets AIS 156 standards despite “not [having] been notified” and that they are also complying with European standards.

There are “multiple quality checkpoints for cells, battery packs, thermal interface management, and battery management system”.

To Market Too Soon?

It has received backlash over concerns that it might have entered the market too soon and without adequate testing.

Aggarwal had an answer to this as well, saying that  the S1 Pro scooter was launched after extensive testing over a year and a half.

What the company failed to answer were questions about the actual number of pending bookings, issues with battery performance & thermal management, and why some scooters had suddenly reversed on acceleration.