According to an official statement, the government has postponed the implementation of additional provisions in the battery safety standards, which were to start from October 1, to give manufacturers more time to comply with the new rules.
statement said Now the additional provisions in the battery safety standards will be implemented in two phases – the first phase from December 1 and the second phase from March 31, 2023.
Concerned over incidents of fire in electric two-wheelers, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on September 1 introduced additional safety provisions in battery safety standards, which were to come into effect from October 1.
The improvements include additional safety requirements related to battery cell, on-board charger, battery pack design and thermal propagation due to fire due to internal cell short circuit.
“To strengthen safety parameters for testing batteries used in electric vehicles, Amendment-2, effective October 1, 2022, was issued to both Automotive Industry Standards (AIS)-156 and AIS-038.”
“In order to better equip OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to comply/enforce the provisions prescribed under AIS-156 and AIS 038, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to implement Amendment 3 of this AIS in two phases,” MoRTH said in a statement. has been said.
In April this year, cases of electric bikes from manufacturers such as Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech and PureEV catching fire were reported. This prompted the government to set up an inquiry committee.
The MoRTH constituted an expert committee headed by ARCl Hyderabad Director Tata Narsingh Rao, with Center for Fire, Explosives and Environment Safety (CFEES) scientist MK Jain, Indian Institute of Science Principal Research Scientist Subba Reddy and IIT Madras Professor Devendra Jalihal as members. . , to recommend additional safety requirements to the existing battery safety standards notified under the CMV Rules.
Noting the EV fire accidents, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in April warned of fines if companies were found negligent and said that faulty vehicles would be ordered to be recalled.
Subsequently, Ola Electric recalled 1,441 units of its electric two-wheelers. Okinawa announced a recall of 3,215 units of its Prez Pro electric scooter to address any battery-related issues. Similarly, Pure EV recalled 2,000 units of its ETrance+ and EPluto 7G models.
