Amid increasing instances of fires in electric vehicles (EVs) being reported from parts of the country, the government has stepped in with a plan to formulate procedures on battery certification and quality control. The move is a bid to deter such incidents from reoccurring, which could put off potential EV buyers. The Centre has formed a panel of experts that has representations from the Visakhapatnam-based Naval Science & Technological Laboratory; the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras; the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru; and an expert of advanced chemistry. “The committee will suggest ways to ensure the right quality of the product. They have to come up with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for testing and validation of key components and formulate a certification standard for the battery used in EVs,” said a top government official. The committee has to submit its report by the middle of this month, added the official. The electric two-wheeler segment has seen many incidents of vehicles catching fire in the recent past. Electric two-wheeler makers such as Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech and PureEV had recalled their scooters in the wake of separate fire incidents. The reasons for fire may include manufacturing defects, external damage, or faults in the deployment in the battery management system, which could result in these batteries becoming a fire risk. In some cases, faulty charging could also have been a reason behind the fire. A Tata Nexon EV caught fire in Maharashtra last month, which is being seen as the first major instance of a passenger vehicle catching fire in India. Nexon is the country's largest-selling EV. There are 30,000 Nexon EVs on the road, which have cumulatively covered over 100 million km across the country in nearly 4 years, Tata Motors had said in a statement. Another committee with representations from the Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety and the Indian Institute of Science and Naval Science & Technological Laboratory was asked to probe the circumstances that led to the incident and suggest remedial measures. While the reasons for the fire are still under investigation, the official said they have approached vehicle manufacturers, based on preliminary investigation, and have sought responses. With a larger aim to reduce its crude import bill, the government’s focus is on pushing passenger vehicle owners to shift to EVs from internal combustion engine vehicles. The government has achieved partial success; high fuel prices have also helped the transition, with companies such as Tata Motors, MG and Hyundai launching affordable EVs. The country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has not introduced an EV in the market so far, though it is working jointly with Toyota to develop a battery EV in India. The company has also announced to stop making pure petrol cars within the next 10 years and might fit them with hybrid powertrains. The biggest reason behind consumer hesitation in buying EVs in India is the lack of charging infrastructure, even in big cities, triggering range anxiety. The highways virtually have no EV charging infrastructure at present, though there is a plan to set up at least one EV charging station for every 69,000 petrol pumps across the country. The government is also targeting to go all-electric in terms of new car sales in the country by 2030, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had announced.
