Ola Electric New Delhi: Ola Electric is recalling 1,441 units of its electric two-wheelers as the incidents of vehicles catching fire came to light, according to a company statement.
“As a pre-emptive measure, we will be conducting a detailed diagnostic and health check of the scooters in that specific batch and therefore are issuing a voluntary recall of 1,441 vehicles," Ola Electric said in a statement, media reports said.
“These scooters will be inspected by our service engineers and will go through a thorough diagnostics across all battery systems, thermal systems as well as safety systems," it added.
Ola Electric founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal on Saturday had indicated his company may recall a few batches of electric scooters depending on the findings of the investigating agencies ascertaining the cause behind the EV fires, media reports said.
Yesterday, a 40-year-old man was killed and his wife seriously injured when the battery of his new electric bike exploded in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada.
An 80-year-old man died while his wife and grandson suffered burn injuries when the battery of an electric scooter exploded in their house in Nizamabad town last Tuesday, as per TOI.
A case has been registered against the manufacturer, Pure EV, the manufacturer of the vehicle.
Police investigation revealed that the battery triggered flames after the owner put the battery on charge.
Three scooters manufactured by Okinawa have caught fire since October, resulting in two being injured.
Okinawa Autotech had recalled over 3,000 units, while PureEV did a similar exercise for around 2,000 units, PTI reported.
The voluntary recalls by manufacturers have increased after the government threatened them with “heavy penalties” if they failed to take immediate remedial actions, including calling back faulty models.
Last Thursday, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said, "If any company is found negligent in their processes, a heavy penalty will be imposed and a recall of all defective vehicles will also be ordered."
Gadkari had urged the EV companies to make voluntary recalls of batches with faulty EVs, adding that an Expert Committee has been constituted to enquire into these incidents and make recommendations on remedial steps.
Based on the reports necessary orders on the defaulting companies will be issued and quality-centric guidelines for Electric Vehicles will also be issued soon, he added.
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