EV fire in India: 1,441 Ola S1 Pro electric scooter units recalled

Ola says that the investigation of the Pune incident is ongoing, and a preliminary assessment has found that Ola S1 Pro catching fire was an isolated case. However, as a precautionary measure, the company has recalled 1,441 S1 Pro units belonging to that specific batch for a detailed inspection. 

Ola S1 Pro was burning into flames in Pune on March 26th.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

As per the company, the batteries inside the scooter are already tested for the AIS 156 standard prescribed for India. Further, the battery systems are also compliant with ECE 136 European standards. In its statement, Ola Electric says that these S1 Pro electric scooters unit will be tested thoroughly by its service engineers for every battery system, thermal system and safety system diagnostics.

“These scooters will be inspected by our service engineers and will go through a thorough diagnostics across all battery systems, thermal systems, as well as the safety systems,” reads the statement.

Last week, Ola Electric’s head Bhavish Aggarwal said that the company had tasked a ‘world-class agencies’ to find the cause of the S1 Pro bursting into flames in Pune.

“We are doing an in-depth report, it will take a few weeks,” said Mr Bhavesh Agarwal. He added, “We will share that with everyone. Our intent, Government’s intent and industry’s intent are to make sure consumer confidence on electrification remains high.”

Minister suggests penalties, voluntary recall

Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, in a series of tweets last week, had suggested heavy penalties in cases of EV manufacturers defaulting on quality standards. He had also asked companies to voluntarily recall EVs that may pose a threat to their riders. Two people have lost their lives in two separate EV fire incidents last week.