NEW DELHI: Following a spate of fire incidents in electric vehicles (EVs), India’s electric two-wheeler manufacturers have started recalling their products. These recalls also come at a time when union transport minister Nitin Gadkari has warned the manufacturers of heavy penalties if they are found to be negligent.
While Ola Electric, Pure EV and Okinawa have recalled 6,656 scooters in the past one week, Boom Motors, whose electric scooter Corbett 14 was allegedly involved in a fire incident in Vijayawada Saturday that claimed life of a 40-year-old man and injured two, has also issued a recall.
“While we are yet to give a concrete answer as to what led to the explosion, we have initiated a recall to double check,” said Boom Motor, which had in November 2021 announced its foray in the e-2W market. The firm didn’t mention the number of units to be recalled.
Ola Electric, whose flagship S1 Pro had caught fire in Pune last month, on Sunday said it was recalling 1,441 units. According to Ola’s preliminary assessment, it was found that the incident was an isolated one. “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,” Ola Electric said.
Pure EV, whose two-wheeler has caught fire multiple times, recalled 2,000 units, which it said will undergo a thorough check for their health and that they would be inspected for any imbalances. Okinawa, whose e-scooter is also involved in fire incidents, had last week issued a recall of 3,215 units.