Ola Electric has become the latest electric vehicle company to recall its scooters in India after a series of fire incidents spooked the sector in recent months.
“Our internal investigation into the March 26 vehicle fire incident in Pune is ongoing and the preliminary assessment reveals that the thermal incident was likely an isolated one,” said an Ola Electric statement released yesterday.
“As a pre-emptive measure, we will be conducting a detailed diagnostics and health check of the scooters in that specific batch and therefore are issuing a voluntary recall of 1,441 vehicles.”
The Bengaluru-based firm’s move followed those of Okinawa Autotech, as reported by PTI on April 18, and Pure EV on April 21.
All three instances of recall were based on suspected faulty batteries that have led to their vehicles abruptly going up in flames.
India’s road transport minister Nitin Gadkari had also recently warned firms that neglected the problem.
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.
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) April 21, 2022
In all, more than 6,000 vehicles have been recalled between Ola, Okinawa, and Pure. Another firm, Jitendra New EV Tech, is also looking into fire incidents.
EVs constitute a mere 1% of the total vehicles sales in India, but their share is rising. The battery-blaze phenomenon, however, has emerged as a major threat to the industry. Dealers have been terminating contracts and customers cancelling bookings and seeking refunds, PTI reported yesterday.