The latest electric vehicle mishap in Hyderabad where an 80-year-old man was killed and two others from the same family were reportedly injured after the battery of an e-scooter exploded, has drawn a stark warning from the government.
The incident happened on April 20, 2022 when the owner of the scooter had put the detachable battery on charge, which exploded after a few hours of charging.
What happened in Hyderabad?
The deceased was identified as B Ramaswamy, whose son B Prakash owned the scooter. Prakash had been using the vehicle for nearly a year now. He blamed the "substandard quality" of the battery for the tragedy that hit his family. An FIR has been registered against the scooter manufacturer Pure EV.
Pure EV has now decided to recall 2,000 vehicles belonging to models ETrance Plus and EPluto 7G. Among the recent incidents of electric scooters catching fire, three were manufactured by Pure EV. So far three Pure EV, one Ola, two Okinawa and 20 Jitendra EV scooters have caught fire.
What did the manufacturer say?
"The vehicles and batteries therein shall undergo a thorough check for their health. We shall inspect the battery for any imbalance issues and shall calibrate through our device BaTRics Faraday (an AI-based hardware which can automatically identify and repair defects in Li-Ion batteries). Additionally the BMS and charger calibration shall be carried out as required." Pure EV said in a statement on Thursday. Expressing condolences to the family of the victim, Pure EV said they are cooperating with the local authorities probing the case.
Late last month, a Pure EV electric scooter went up in flames near Mathur toll plaza in Chennai.
How has the government responded?
After the latest e-scooter incident in Hyderabad, union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said an expert committee has been constituted to probe the fire incidents and recommend remedial steps to avoid such mishaps. The companies found negligent in processes will be liable to a heavy penalty and will be required to recall of all defective vehicles.
"Based on the reports, we will issue necessary orders on the defaulting companies. We will soon issue quality-centric guidelines for Electric Vehicles," Gadkari said in a tweet.
"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," Gadkari wrote.
Earlier on April 13, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant urged the EV original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) voluntarily to recall vehicles linked to the fire incidents. He said the companies should certify that the batteries adhere to testing standards.
There has been an uptick in the sale of electronic vehicles in the last three years. While 1,64852 EVs were sold in 2019, the number went up to 1,23528 in 2020. The subsequent year, 3.24,840 EVs were sold.
Causes of fire in EVs?
The probable causes for the fire in EVs could be:
- Short circuit, rise in temperature
- Faulty battery management system
- Faulty charging of batteries
- Bad quality of battery cells
- Accidental damage