Road Transport and highways secretary Giridhar Aramane stated on Sunday that the federal government will probe each incident of electrical scooters catching fireplace. He additionally referred to as upon the e-scooter producers should rapidly set up vital practical security protocols, high quality management, and high quality assurance programs.
But business insiders say the skilled committee, arrange by the federal government to inquire into the matter, doesn’t should look very far and may merely suggest setting up a regulatory mechanism to make sure that the producers adhere to stipulated requirements with regard to batteries used within the automobiles.
Industry executives and consultants stated that at the moment there’s no conformity of manufacturing (CoP) to make sure that the samples of batteries that producers get examined at ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) or ICAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology) are utilized in all of the automobiles they produce. There’s no system whereby these two businesses examine the manufacturing models of EV producers to make sure that uniform battery requirements are maintained. There’s no system of random checks additionally on the manufacturing models.
Simply put, the system works like this: the producers get four-six samples of lithium-ion batteries examined by ARAI and ICAT, however whether or not they use the identical throughout automobiles shouldn’t be ascertained by any regulatory company. This, business executives and consultants preserve, could also be one of many prime causes for some EVs catching fireplace not too long ago.
At least eight fireplace incidents involving two-wheeler EVs of firms like Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Pure EV, and Jitendra New EV Tech, have come to gentle since March 26. The batteries utilized in electrical two-wheelers in India comply both with the older AIS-048 requirements or the newer AIS-156 requirements, which have been launched in 2020. AIS-048 exams embrace short-circuit, overcharge, vibration, shock, and nail penetration. On the opposite hand, AIS-156 claimed to be probably the most stringent on the earth for testing batteries, stipulates exams like vibration, mechanical drop, mechanical shock, fireplace resistance, exterior brief circuit safety, overcharge safety, over-discharge safety, over-temperature safety, and thermal shock and biking.
The AIS-048 will likely be discontinued from December 2022, following which the previous certifications must be upgraded to AIS-156 by re-applying at ARAI or ICAT. The majority of latest EV fashions are powered by lithium-ion batteries. An ARAI official, who didn’t want to be named, instructed FE that the company solely exams batteries as per the procedures prescribed in AIS-156 for giving requisite approvals to producers.
According to an official at ICAT, uniform pointers and inspection programs needs to be laid down for the complete ecosystem ranging from conceptualization to prototype to manufacturing and at last end-of-life of the battery. “Battery is the most important component of an EV, and with consumers concerned about EV safety, uniform production standards — CoP in industry parlance — should be laid down. As EV technology advances, systems will become more efficient, and the number of such unfortunate fire accidents will decrease,” Samrath Kochar, founder, and CEO, Trontek, instructed FE. “CoP should be implemented to ensure that the same quality is maintained throughout the manufacturing of EV batteries. Further, self-regulation should be maintained by battery manufacturers until CoP is implemented. Each imported cell should be checked individually and only those that fulfill the norms and quality standards should be used in battery pack manufacturing,” Kochar added.
Okaya Electric Vehicles’ MD Anshul Gupta stated that CoP needs to be made necessary as rapidly as doable, particularly after a number of fireplace incidents in EVs. The firm gives electrical two-wheelers like Faast, Freedum and ClassIQ. Okaya Power, the dad or mum firm of Okaya Electric Vehicles, sells virtually 8,000 lithium-ion batteries each month for electrical two-wheelers and electrical three-wheelers. “If CoP is implemented and battery manufacturers are made to adhere to uniform standards, it would enhance product reliability, performance, and safety. It would also make the entry barrier slightly tougher for non-serious players and ensure that only serious players get into production,” Gupta added.
Log9 Materials co-founder and COO Kartik Hajela famous that making CoP necessary below AIS-156 will be certain that the batteries made by producers are as per the submitted samples for kind approval. The firm not too long ago unveiled what it claimed is India’s first indigenous cell manufacturing line, in Bengaluru. “Current process only validates a few battery samples sent for type approval to the testing agency but does not ensure that at the production stage, the same product is being made,” Hajela stated.”Yes, conformity of manufacturing needs to be made necessary for battery producers below AIS-156,” stated Suhas Rajkumar, founder & CEO at Simple Energy. The firm will quickly begin the deliveries of the One electrical scooter, which was launched in August 2021. The latest EV fireplace incidents have prompted Okinawa and Pure EV to recall 3,215 models and a couple of,000 models, respectively. Ola has additionally introduced a recall of 1,441 models.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”