Electric Vehicles Catching Fire Is Alarming: Govt Asks Why Ola, Okinawa, Pure EV Shouldn’t Be Penalized?

The rise in EV fire incidents have brought some electric vehicle makers under the government’s radar in India. 

Faulty Batteries Caused Fire

In response, the government has asked EV makers such as Ola Electric, Pure EV and Okinawa, to explain why they should not be penalized for a spate of scooter fires that in some cases also caused loss of life.

All these fire incidents have been reportedly caused due to faulty batteries. 

As it couldn’t operate safely due to a rise in ambient temperature.

Absence Of Basic Safety Systems

Concerning this matter, these EV firms have been given a 30-day notice till July end in order to generate an official response on the matter. 

Also, this period could be extended reportedly. 

Further, the government had formed two committees to investigate the fire incidents.

While following the investigation, it was revealed that the battery-operated vehicles involved in fire incidents lacked ‘basic safety systems’. 

Safety Recommendation 

Besides this, the committees also informed that the battery management systems (BMS) of the electric two-wheelers were substandard as a ‘venting mechanism’ for overheated cells to release energy was found lacking. 

Now the news safety recommendations from the investigation were sent to the EV companies.

The officials said, “The companies have been advised to set them in order quickly. We have also asked them to explain why action should not be taken against them for these failures,”.

Apart from this, the government has also been actively rolling out guidelines for electric vehicle OEMs to enhance the safety of these vehicles. 

In recent times, the Bureau of Indian  Standards (BIS)  published the ‘performance standards for electronic vehicle batteries’.

In the meantime, NITI Aayog has also asked the EV maker to voluntarily announce a recall of their e-scooters as a precautionary measure. 

In response, OEMs have managed to recall more than 7,000 e-scooters so far.