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Journalism of Courage
The Centre has asked electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers to take “advance action” to recall all defective batches of vehicles immediately and has said that it would soon issue quality-centric guidelines for EVs. This comes in the wake of over a dozen instances of electric scooters erupting into flames across the country, and even claiming lives in some cases.
In a series of tweets Thursday, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari cautioned EV makers that if they are found “negligent in their process”, the government will impose a heavy penalty and a recall of all of their defective EVs will be ordered. He also, for the first time, officially acknowledged the mishaps involving EVs in the country, the first instance of which involving a scooter made by Ola Electric was reported last month.
“Several mishaps involving Electric Two Wheelers have come to light in (the) last two months. It is most unfortunate that some people have lost their lives and several have been injured in these incidents,” Gadkari tweeted.
In the last few weeks, over a dozen e-scooters of several manufacturers have caught fire. The companies have launched their investigations into the incidents.
The Road Transport Ministry, meanwhile, ordered a probe into the incidents and roped in the Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) to investigate the incidents and suggest remedial measures.
On Thursday, Pure EV decided to recall 2,000 vehicles belonging to two of its models — ETrance Plus and EPluto 7G — in the wake of fire incidents involving its scooters in Nizamabad, Telangana and Chennai. In the Nizamabad incident, an 80-year-old died after a scooter’s battery exploded in his house Wednesday.
