EV fires: Govt sends show cause notices to Ola Electric, Okinawa
Amid rising incidents of electric vehicles catching fire, the Centre has issued show cause notices to manufacturers like Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech and Pure EV and others. The government has asked them why penal action should not be taken against them for delivering faulty electric two-wheelers to the public.
After many incidents of electric two-wheelers catching fire in the recent past, the government formed a panel to examine and warned companies of penalties if they were found to be negligent.
According to reports, the EV makers have been given time till July end to respond in detail to the notices. Once the responses are in, the government will decide which penal action is to be taken, if any, against the EV makers at fault.
Notably, electric two-wheeler makers such as Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech and PureEV had recalled their scooters in the wake of separate fire incidents.
Last month, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which comes under the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry, sent notices to Pure EV and Boom Motors after their e-scooters exploded in April.
The preliminary findings from the government-constituted probe committee on EV fires identified issues with battery cells or design in nearly all of the electric two-wheeler fire incidents. The experts found defects in the battery as well as battery design.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which was earlier tasked with investigating electric two-wheeler fire incidents by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, has also found serious defects in the EV two-wheeler batteries.
These defects occurred because the electric two-wheeler manufacturers like Okinawa Autotech, Pure EV, Jitendra Electric Vehicles, Ola Electric and Boom Motors may have used "lower-grade materials to cut costs", the DRDO probe had revealed.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has now issued new performance standards for lithium-ion batteries to safeguard the consumers amid the rising EV fire episodes in the country.
With IANS Inputs
READ MORE: Tata Nexon EV fire: Electric vehicle fires will happen, says Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal
