Ola, Okinawa And PureEV Fires Linked To Faulty Cells, Battery Management And Casings

These findings are supposedly based on a new government report

Recently, EV brands like Ola Electric, PureEV and Okinawa have faced severe backlash as their electric offerings went up in flames in various parts of the country. With this current onslaught of electric scooters catching fire, the government has decided to step in, conduct a probe and hopefully suggest new standards on the basis of its findings.   

According to Reuters, the preliminary findings of a federal investigation suggests faulty battery cells, and modules were the leading cause of these fires. In the case of Ola, one of India’s leading names in the EV space, it said that the cells and battery management system(BMS) were the root cause. Ola has stated that it is working closely with the government on the matter, and has also hired an external agency to run a parallel probe of its own. Ola even refuted the government’s findings by presenting its own report which states that the Ola BMS is not at fault and the fires are an “isolated thermal incident”. Ola even opened the doors to its FutureFactory to showcase how the S1 Pro battery packs are made in pursuit of transparency.       
Under the microscope, Okinawa showcased faulty cells and battery modules and PureEV displayed issues with its battery casing. Neither of them have made an official statement in the light of this investigation. Okinawa recently even issued a recall of its 3,215 units of the Praise Pro electric scooters.

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See, there are two schools of thought when it comes to EVs in India today, especially keeping the two-wheeler electric mobility scene in mind. On one hand are people who proclaim EVs are the future, they accept the on-going challenges as early problems faced by any new technology. On the other hand are the skeptics, the ones most intrigued by the technology but issues like EV scooters catching fire leave them a little unsure, and understandably so. That said, we feel when any new technology arrives, especially one that has the potential to affect society’s everyday functioning, the government has a critical role to play. It must monitor and set standards for companies to adhere to before they roll out units to thousands of early adopters.