EV scooter fires: Gadkari warns of heavy penalty, says govt will take action against defaulting firms

Several mishaps involving Electric Two Wheelers have come to light in last two months. It is most unfortunate that some people have lost their lives and several have been injured in these incidents.

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) April 21, 2022

Asserting that the Narendra Modi government was committed to ensuring the safety of all citizens, Gadkari said: “companies may take advance action to recall all defective batches of vehicles immediately”.

In the last few weeks, over a dozen electric scooters have caught fires including those manufactured by Ola Electric, Pure EV and Jitendra EV, aside from Okinawa. The companies have launched respective investigations into the instances.

On Wednesday, an 80-year-old man died when the battery of an electric scooter exploded while being charged at his home in Telangana’s Nizamabad district. Soon after the Nizamabad incident made headlines, electric scooter manufacturer Pure EV announced its decision to recall 2,000 vehicles belonging to models ETrance Plus and EPluto 7G.

Earlier this week, two-wheel EV maker Okinawa Autotech too stated that it was recalling 3,215 units of its Praise Pro scooter to fix any issues related to batteries.