Another Electric Scooter In Flames

The electric scooter belongs to Mr Odelu, a farmer from Ramachndrapur. The incident took place at his home after he parked his electric scooter in front of his house for charging. A little after the electric scooter was plugged into the charger, the battery exploded.

Though the cause of the explosion of the battery is yet to be confirmed, at present, voltage fluctuation is suspected to be the cause of the incident. It is also worth mentioning that the electric scooter of Mr Odelu was purchased just a few months back.

Earlier, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, Mr Nitin Gadkari, expressed his concern over several unfortunate incidents involving electric two-wheelers. Following this, the minister also set up an expert committee to look into the recent incidents.

Recently, the expert committee set up by the minister looked into the incidents involving electric two-wheelers catching fire and Niti Aayog member Mr V K Saraswat said that the imported battery cells "may not be" suitable for the country's conditions and he further emphasised the need for locally developed and manufactured cells.

Earlier, a few incidents related to faulty electric scooters were reported in the country, however, the matter escalated when an elderly man and his daughter died after an electric scooter exploded while being charged.

Following the row of incidents, Okinawa Autotech recalled 3,215 units of its Praise Pro electric scooter to fix any underlying issue related to its battery pack. Following this, Pure EV also announced its decision to recall 2,000 of its electric scooters after one of its electric scooters exploded while being charged.

Last month, more than a dozen incidents involving electric two-wheelers have been reported in the country and these electric scooters have either caught fire or emitted toxic smoke.

The electric scooters involved in such high profile incidents belonged to companies such as Pure EV, Okinawa Ola Electric, and Jitendra EV.

Speaking to the PTI, Mr V K Saraswat said, "Battery technology is an evolving technology. India does not manufacture battery cells at the moment... we should set up our own cell manufacturing plants at the earliest. We should make sure that whatever cells we manufacture are suitable for Indian conditions of high temperature,... What (battery) cells India is getting may not be suitable for Indian conditions... so what is important is when we import cells, we should do our own screening and rigorous testing system,"

Thoughts About Electric Scooters

Though electric scooters provide a very economical and pollution-free commute, recent incidents regarding the electric scooter have pushed the public to re-think their decision on buying EVs. The latest incident will further affect the overall EV sales in the country.

Source: The Hindu

Note: Images for representative purpose only