Govt. Panel Chastises Indian EV-makers for Ignoring Safety | TechTree.com

Govt. Panel Chastises Indian EV-makers for Ignoring Safety

A government panel has warned that EV fires were a result of poor safety systems and said makers need to take corrective measures or face legal action

 

A wise man once said that having rules seldom solves any problem in society. It's the implementation that matters. Looks like the Union Government has woken up to this age-old rule and asked manufacturers of electric vehicles to ensure basic safety systems on their two-wheelers or face legal action. 

What prompted such sharp words against what many consider to be destiny's favorite child is a report submitted by an expert panel formed to probe the incidents of electric vehicles lighting up and burning down just like that. The panel says manufacturers didn't adhere to basic safety systems for their products. 

Not surprising, given the fact that there were just too many players who made a beeline for this segment over the past 12 to 18 months. And, true to form, those that were tasked with ensuring that stringent production norms were implemented were either caught napping or found themselves buried under the deluge. 

A report published in the Economic Times quoted an unnamed official to suggest that the committee found no venting mechanism for overheated cells. It also found fault with the whole battery management system. Worse still, the panel felt that many of the EV makers had launched their vehicles with minimum functionality while taking shortcuts on critical factors such as vehicle safety precautions.  

The panel is expected to submit its report within a week though some of the recommendations, especially those related to vehicle safety norms and what legal actions it could entail have already been shared with the EV manufacturers. 

On the battery management system available on most two-wheeler EVs, there is no way to isolate a cell that is overheating. The panel lamented that such a system is what a basic level management system should have, whereas these EVs do not have even the capability of just identifying a system failure, let alone regulating current supply in case of overcharging.  

 


TAGS: Electric Vehicles, electric motorcycle, exploding batteries, batteries

 
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