NEW DELHI: Ola Electric issued a detailed statement stating that the data from their investigation “clearly shows that the rider was overspeeding throughout the night, and that he braked in panic, thereby losing control of the vehicle. There is nothing wrong with the vehicle.”
The company also provided detailed speed data of the vehicle at the time of the incident where it said that at the exact moment of the incident, all the three brakes were applied together, likely due to an obstruction on the road, and this brought the speed down from 80kmph to 0 kmph in 3 seconds. In the data, no sudden torque or acceleration is observed after braking, contrary to the customer claims, said Ola Electric.
Balwant Singh, who on April 15 had alleged that his son had an accident on March 26 due to regenerating braking, commenting on Ola Electric’s finding and said that his son was not speeding at 85 kmph. He was around 60 kmph at the point of braking thereafter it accelerated, went down in the air, and came back crashing. If it came from 85 to 0 kmph in 3 seconds, he would not have been alive,” added Singh.
Singh had said that his son had fractures in his left hand and 16 stitches in his right hand due to this accident, and he had to be flown from Guwahati to Mumbai to undergo surgery to save his left hand from life-long disability. Singh also called out the poor response he received from the Ola Electric team post the accident.
This whole episode takes place as Ola Electric is under heavy scrutiny following a fire explosion in its EV last month. In recent weeks, e-scooters from Ola Electric, Pure EV, Okinawa Scooters, and Jitendra Electric Vehicles have caught fire and in at least two cases there has been loss of human lives. This has cast serious safety concerns among consumers.