EV fires | Ola may recall a few batches of electric scooters, says Bhavish Aggarwal

OLA Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal.

Ola Electric Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said on April 23 that the company may recall a few batches of electric scooters depending on the recommendations given by the probing agencies ascertaining the cause behind the EV fires, reported CNBC-TV18.

The Ola Electric founder has assured that world-class agencies have been hired to find out why the Ola electric scooter caught fire.

Aggarwal said: “We have commissioned world-class agencies on the root cause of the recent EV fire and what can be done better. We might do a recall of a few batches depending on the recommendations we receive. We will try to make sure consumer confidence remains high and we will look out for defects if any.”

His statement comes as the Ola S1 scooter is set to be launched this year; it will reportedly be a lower-priced variant.

However, since deliveries started in December last year, Ola Electric has struggled with issues pertaining to the quality, delivery, and after-sale service of its scooters.

In recent weeks, scooters from Ola Electric, Pure EV, Okinawa Scooters, and Jitendra Electric Vehicles have also gone up in flames, casting a shadow over the prospects of a nascent but fast-growing industry.

On March 28, the government deputed a team of experts to investigate the incidents. On April 7, it called technical teams of Ola Electric and Okinawa Scooter for an explanation for recent fires in their EVs.

All testing requirements for batteries, battery management, and cells are now being updated amid mounting worries about safety issues surrounding two-wheeler EVs owing to previous fire accidents. The government is in talks with companies involved in recent EV fires.

According to reports, these companies are also being instructed on the procedures that need to be taken to prevent future fires. It's also been stated that, if necessary, the government can provide EV manufacturers instructions on what steps they must do. At the manufacturer's end, the government is also modifying quality assurance and quality control criteria.