Faulty battery cells and modules have been recognized because the main trigger of electrical scooters catching hearth in India in current weeks, based on the findings of an preliminary federal investigation, two authorities sources instructed Reuters.
The probe regarded into hearth incidents involving three corporations, together with Ola Electric, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group, and was the nation’s top-selling e-scooter maker in April.
“In Ola’s case, the battery cells were found to be an issue as well as the battery management system,” mentioned one of many sources, who has direct data of the report.
In March, India launched an investigation over security issues after a spat of e-scooter fires, together with one the place a person and his daughter died when their e-bike “went up in flames”.
India needs e-scooters and e-bikes to make up 80% of complete two-wheeler gross sales by 2030, from about 2% in the present day. But issues over security jeopardise client confidence and will derail development of a sector that’s key to the nation’s carbon discount targets.
“The government has taken samples of cells from the three companies to make further checks,” the individual mentioned, including that the ultimate investigation report is anticipated in about two weeks.
Ola, which sources its cells from South Korea’s LG Energy Solution (LGES), says it’s working with the federal government on the difficulty and has appointed an exterior professional company, along with conducting its personal probe.
“As per the preliminary assessment of these experts, there was no fault of the Ola battery management system at all and it was likely an isolated thermal incident,” an organization spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
“The Indian government’s report has not yet been released or shared with us. We cannot comment on the report as we have not yet identified the root cause of the Ola scooter incident in March,” LGES in Seoul mentioned in an announcement to Reuters.
On April 18, an government at LGES in India, Prashant Kumar, instructed Reuters that the corporate and Ola are “collaborating on an unfortunate incident and seeking to understand the root cause.”
The authorities probe additionally regarded into hearth incidents involving scooters constructed by Indian startups Okinawa and PureEV. In Okinawa’s case there was a difficulty with the cells and battery modules and for PureEV it was the battery casing, mentioned the primary supply.
PureEV and Okinawa didn’t reply to an e mail searching for remark however have beforehand mentioned they’re investigating the fires and have issued a recall of some scooters.
The preliminary findings of the investigation have prompted the federal government to contemplate testing battery cells of e-scooters earlier than they’re allowed to launch, mentioned the second supply.
India at the moment exams the battery packs however not the cells that are primarily imported from South Korea or China.
“If India decides to test the cells, it will have to build the infrastructure and expertise,” mentioned the individual.
,
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
