Ola To Recall Over 1,400 Electric Scooters After Incidents Of Vehicles Catching Fire Mount

Ola Electric is recalling 1,441 units of its electric two-wheelers in the wake of incidents of vehicles catching fire, according to a company statement.

The company said its investigation into the fire incident on March 26, in Pune, is ongoing and a preliminary assessment found that it was an isolated one.

However, it said, "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."

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Ola Electric further 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." Ola Electric said its battery systems already comply with and is tested for AIS 156, the latest proposed standard for India, in addition to being compliant with the European standard ECE 136.

Widespread incidents of EVs catching fire

Recently, there have been widespread incidents of electric two-wheelers catching fire in various parts of the country forcing manufacturers to recall their vehicles.

Okinawa Autotech had recalled over 3,000 units, while PureEV did a similar exercise for around 2,000 units.

The fire incidents had prompted the government to form a panel to examine and had warned companies of penalties if they were found to be negligent.

Man dies in Andhra after EV explodes

A 40-year-old man died at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday after his electric vehicle¡¯s battery exploded in his bedroom.

The victim, Kotakonda Siva Kumar (40), bought the scooter on Friday, according to police.

Pure EV

Kumar had started charging the battery around 10pm before going to sleep. As a result of the explosion, there was a fire in the living room and smoke quickly engulfed the place.

While Kumar died of burns and suspected asphyxiation, his wife, Harathi (30), and children Bindu Sri (10) and Sasi (6) suffered burns.

Earlier, 80-year-old B Ramaswamy died after the battery of his son Prakash¡¯s Pure EV scooter exploded in their living room in the early hours on Wednesday.

The Nizamabad police registered a case against the vehicle manufacturer and the dealer who sold it. In a statement later, the Hyderabad-based EV startup announced its decision to recall 2,000 vehicles belonging to the models ETrance Plus and EPluto 7G in the wake of fire incidents involving its scooters in Nizamabad and Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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