Two incidents of fire in electric scooters have prompted the Center to order a probe into major companies – Ola Electric and Okinawa Autotech – makers of the vehicles.
In the first incident, an e-bike made by Okinawa went up in flames due to an electrical short-circuit accident in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, eventually leading to the death of two people on Friday, and the next morning, on Saturday, Ola. KS1 Pro (Flagship model) A fire broke out in the busy Lohegaon area of Pune, Maharashtra.
“We have asked an independent expert to examine the actual circumstances. These can be internal and external – whether the fire incident occurred due to the design operation of the vehicle or the external environment that led to the fire,” said Giridhar Armane, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). business Line,
He said that if the designs of the vehicles were approved and tested and there is no room for speculation or lapses. The probe teams will also visit Pune and Bengaluru (Ola Headquarters) for investigation and Vellore for the Okinawa incident.
While these two incidents are not the first to make headlines, Armane said the investigation is limited to Ola and Okinawa as they are “recent cases, so we will investigate the incidents”. Earlier (October 2021) in Okinawa, a scooter caught fire in a garage.
In December last year, two scooters of Pure EV also caught fire, and another scooter of HCD India in Manesar caught fire, killing a 60-year-old man.
Asked about the time frame for investigating the latest developments, Armane said that since it is a scientific thing, it could take a long time, “but a month would be enough”.
He said that incidents of fire in petrol and CNG also happen and the government is concerned about all such incidents. “There are incidents of fires in large vehicles including petrol and CNG – we are concerned about everything, not only that… we have already asked independent experts to investigate the real causes of these fires, and if any. The problem is, we will make sure they are taken care of.” However, he did not comment on what action can be taken if the companies are at fault.
‘A lot of politics’
According to sources, there is a lot of politics in the Electric Vehicle (EV) battery space right now, Battery Swapping Group vs Fixed Battery Group, and Petrol Group vs EV Group… There is a lot of politics.
Sources in the government also said that as per the Motor Vehicles Act, some vehicles can be shut down (for the manufacturer to stop production) if it is found that negligence in manufacturing has resulted in a dangerous incident.
Meanwhile, when asked about the latest development (investigation by the government), both Okinawa and Ola declined to comment.
Published on
28 March 2022