Taking serious note of recent fire incidents in electric vehicles, the Union Road Transport Ministry has asked manufacturers to defer their plans to launch new two-wheelers.
In the meeting attended by electric vehicle makers on Monday, the Ministry officials verbally requested them to defer launches till the inquiry report on the fire is tabled, sources in the Ministry said.
Officials also asked manufacturers to recall the entire batch of vehicles if one vehicle in a batch caught fire.
“Since the government planning to issue new regulations for electric vehicles based on the inquiry report, we have requested the companies to defer new launches,” said an official in the Ministry.
Some Incidents
It should be noted that Ola did this after a singular incident of battery fire occurred in Pune. But the actions are in-line with the government’s instructions that an entire batch of scooters be recalled, even if a single scooter malfunctioned. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari threatened brands with penalties if they failed to recall the scooters in time.
In accordance with this directive, even brands that have seen no battery-related fires will not be launching any e-scooters this year. How brands react to what has only been a verbal suggestion so far, remains to be seen.
The move has been made to provide the government more time to set up the right body of authority and take a closer look at the cause behind these incidents, while it does prevent brands from launching faster, bigger, and potentially more dangerous versions of these scooters.
It also prevents brands from launching improved versions of lackluster products. What happens to EV brands waiting to make their debut in the Indian market, remains to be seen.
Govt denies
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has denied reports of the government asking electric two-wheeler manufacturers not to launch new vehicles till the recent spate of incidents of fire in electric scooters are investigated.
According to several media reports, this was communicated to manufacturers at a meeting called by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Monday to discuss the rising number of incidents of fire in electric two-wheelers.
All-electric vehicle manufacturers have been asked to voluntarily recall an entire batch of vehicles if one from that batch was involved in a fire incident. Now, the government has clarified on social media that the ministry has not given any such instruction.
— MORTHINDIA (@MORTHIndia) April 28, 2022
Last week, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had asked electric vehicle makers to voluntarily recall faulty electric two-wheelers after a series of fire accidents in which a few people also lost their lives.
After the minister’s statement, electric vehicle manufacturers like Ola Electric, Okinawa, and Pure EV, all brands whose electric scooters have been involved in fire incidents, recalled nearly 7,000 electric two-wheelers they had sold.
While the government may not have issued any instructions to halt launches of electric two-wheelers, there’s no denying the fact that there’s the increasing focus is on quality and safety, especially on systems and processes and on the quality of batteries used in new electric two-wheelers.
