Road ministry orders probe into Ola, Okinawa EV fire incidents

Such incidents may raise hesitancy in buying EVs

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Tuesday ordered a probe into the recent incidents of Ola Electric and Okinawa electric scooters catching fire.

The news raised fresh concerns about the safety of electric vehicles and could make more Indians stay away from investing in them until there was more clarity, experts said.

"Despite over three decades of research in lithium-ion technology, the safety of these systems in hot and humid areas is not guaranteed. The Indian consumer is still not ready to switch over to electric mobility wholeheartedly, and instances of fires and loss of lives will certainly push the consumer further away from new technologies," said Ashwini Kumar, a climate advocate and a green hydrogen expert.

An electric bike made by Okinawa caught fire on Sunday in Vellore and led to the death of two people. In a separate incident, an Ola Electric scooter caught fire in Pune last week.

Also Read | Ola says probing e-scooter burning incident, to take 'appropriate' action

The government on Tuesday asked the Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety, a laboratory under the Defence Research and Development Organisation, to investigate the circumstances that led to the incidents and suggest remedial measures.

“The Ministry wanted to know whether the fire incidents happened due to external environment or vehicle design operation," said a ministry official.

Okinawa Autotech and Ola Electric did not respond to DH’s emails seeking comment.

However, Ola had put out a statement on Saturday saying that it was investigating to understand what caused the incident and would share more updates in the next few days.

"We take this incident seriously and will take appropriate action," the statement said.

Experts feel that lithium-based batteries have always been prone to catching fires, be it the recent e-scooters in India or electric cars abroad.

Kumar added that alternative fuels like ethanol and methanol could push clean mobility with the existing infrastructure, while keeping costs practical.

However, some industry players blamed the practice of using low-quality battery components for such fire accidents.

"The EV industry in India is in its nascent stage where it is entirely dependent on foreign imports for the battery assembly components, mainly low-quality lithium-ion cells, low-cost BMS (Battery Management System) which battery assemblers use to reduce the overall cost," said Utkarsh Singh, co-founder of BatX Energies, a lithium-ion battery assembling and recycling firm.

Others looked at this as an opportunity to boost precautionary measures.

Original equipment manufacturers should use these incidents as a trigger to urge customers to take proper precautions like ensuring proper earthing and using sockets of proper voltage before charging their vehicles, said Nupur Shah, a partner at EV consultancy SustainBhoomi.

"After the probe and thorough investigation, the government should definitely come up with regulations to be followed by all the EV makers to ensure safety," said Shah.

Shah sees OEMs, especially two-wheeler manufacturers, facing hiccups in selling their EVsand convincing consumers about the testing and safety standards followed.

"However, the probe report will be an eye-opener for consumers as well as OEMs, and I am sure that SOPs for both OEMs and Consumers will strengthen the EV ecosystem again," she said.

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