EV fire mishaps continue despite govt warning; makers press recall button

The incidents of electric vehicles catching fire continue with two more mishaps in India on Saturday (April 23).

A 40-year-old man lost his life in Vijayawada after his new Boom Corbett 14 electric scooter’s battery exploded at home on Saturday. And, on the same day, a parked e-scooter caught fire in Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu, and fortunately, nobody was injured.

Also read: Why electric scooters could catch fire, and how you can avoid that

Also, a few days ago an 80-year-old man was killed in Telangana’s Nizamabad after the battery of an electric vehicle two-wheeler exploded. There have been several other EV fire accidents reported recently and also last year, from Pune, Mumbai, Gurugram and Vellore, where people have lost their lives.

There was also an incident when a truck loaded with EVs caught fire in Nashik.

Pure EV, Ola, Okinawa, and Jitendra EV scooters have caught fire so far in the country.

Also read: An ordeal by fire for new electric vehicle makers and users

The issue of EVs catching fire has raised safety concerns and has put the e-scooter manufacturers under immense scrutiny. Looking at the trend of fire mishaps involving EVs, there seems to be no immediate solution, though some of the automakers are already investigating the cause of fires.

EVs recalled

Another way of addressing the issue is recalling electric vehicles. At least two companies – Okinawa and Ola have acted swiftly and recalled their e-bikes.

Okinawa Autotech was the first in the country to recall EVs, numbering 3,215 units of Okinawa Praise Pro e-scooter.

On Saturday, Ola too said it will recall 1,441 EVs as a “pre-emptive measure”.

“As a pre-emptive measure we will be conducting a detailed diagnostic and health check of the scooters in that specific batch and therefore are issuing a voluntary recall of 1,441 vehicles. These scooters will be inspected by our service engineers and will go through a thorough diagnostics across all battery systems, thermal systems as well as the safety systems,” the company said in a statement.

The cause of all fires seems to be due to the Lithium-ion batteries used in EVs. And, Ola Electric said its battery systems already comply with and is tested for AIS 156, the latest proposed standard for India, in addition to being compliant with the European standard ECE 136.

EV manufacturer PURE EV too had last week recalled 2,000 vehicles after the death of the 80-year-old in Nizamabad. “In view of the recent fire incidents involving our vehicles in Nizamabad and Chennai, PURE EV has decided to recall 2000 vehicles from the models ETRANCE and EPLUTO 7G of the concerned batches,” the company said.

Other issues

Apart from the fire incidents, there are other technical issues as well in some EVs. Recently, a Guwahati rider sustained injuries while riding an Ola EV. He had shared the details of the accident on Twitter. To this, the company responded by saying that it was due to “overspeeding”.

Our statement on the Guwahati scooter accident pic.twitter.com/LbwDLXNh3P

— Ola Electric (@OlaElectric) April 22, 2022

“We did a thorough investigation of the accident and the data clearly shows that the rider was overspeeding throughout the night, and that he braked in panic, thereby losing control of the vehicle. There is nothing wrong with the vehicle. Our operating system tracks various vehicle sensor data which we receive real time in our cloud,” Ola said.

@bhash @OlaElectric I had purchased new Ola S1 Pro. On 26th March 2022 my son had an accident due to fault in regenerative breaking where on speed breaker instead of slowing, the scooter accelerated sending so much torque that he had an accident (1/n) pic.twitter.com/ghVXSwqJ3T

— BALWANT SINGH (@BALWANT1962) April 15, 2022

Another issue pointed out by an Ola owner on social media was that the EV went into reverse mode on its own.

My E scooter dream was very short lived:

Used @OlaElectric scooter for a week. Then one day,there was a car parked haphazardly in the middle of the road. I just pulled the scooter back and it activated Reverse mode.. When I accelerated further, it went in reverse direction (1/n)

— Agent Peenya (@Themangofellow) April 5, 2022

Govt talks tough

Taking note of the EV fires, the Union government has warned the automakers of heavy penalties if found “negligent”. It has also constituted an expert panel to investigate the causes.

“Several mishaps involving Electric Two Wheelers have come to light in last two months. It is most unfortunate that some people have lost their lives and several have been injured in these incidents. We have constituted an Expert Committee to enquire into these incidents and make recommendations on remedial steps. Based on the reports, we will issue necessary orders on the defaulting companies. We will soon issue quality-centric guidelines for Electric Vehicles,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

Also read: Centre summons Ola, Okinawa officials over EV fires, looking at recall: Report

“If any company is found negligent in their processes, a heavy penalty will be imposed and a recall of all defective vehicles will also be ordered… companies may take advance action to recall all defective batches of vehicles immediately. Under the leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi ji, our government is committed to ensure safety of each and every commuter,” he added.

Last month, the government had ordered a probe into the Pune accident. The Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, had been asked to probe the circumstances that led to the incident and also suggest remedial measures, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

Also read: EV offers ₹3 lakh crore business opportunities over 5 years: CRISIL

The ministry had also asked CFEES to share the findings along with its suggestions on measures to prevent such incidents.

Draft policy on battery swapping

Last week, government think tank NITI Aayog issued draft battery swapping policy. According to the draft policy, vehicles with swappable batteries will be sold without a battery, providing the benefit of lower purchase costs to potential EV owners.

It said all metropolitan cities with a population above 40 lakh will be prioritised for the development of a battery swapping network under the first phase, and any individual or entity is free to set up a battery swapping station at any location, provided that the specified technical, safety and performance standards are adhered to.

Also read: Indian EV makers beat the odds to post bumper sales in FY22

All major cities such as state capitals, UT headquarters and cities with population above 5 lakh will be covered under the second phase, given the importance of the two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicle segments in growing cities, the Aayog said.

The draft is up for consultation, and Aayog has invited comments on it until June 5.

It also said that the GST Council may take a decision on different tax rates on batteries and EVSE.

Also read: India has over 10 lakh electric vehicles, 1,742 public charging stations: Govt

“As per the current Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the tax rates on Lithium-ion batteries and Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) are 18 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. The GST Council, the decision-making body on GST provisions, may consider reducing the differential across the two tax rates. The Council will take an appropriate decision in this regard at a suitable time,” the Aayog said in the draft policy.

The onus is now on the automakers to find a permanent solution soon to the EV fire incidents so that they don’t happen again.