Concerns over 2-Wheeler EV Safety
Published on : Sunday 01-05-2022
India is aiming for 100% electrification of public and personal mobility by the year 2030.
A number of companies have production models in both, 2- and 4-wheeler categories as well as last mile 3-wheeler passenger and cargo categories. Apart from legacy manufacturers, a large number of start-ups have entered the field – especially in 2-wheelers – encouraged by popular enthusiasm as well as incentives offered under various government schemes.
Against this backdrop, the recent spate of incidents – four cases in five days in April – involving fires in 2-wheeler electric vehicles (EVs), including loss of life in two cases, is a cause for serious concern. Other incidents were reported sporadically in previous months, including EV scooters catching fire on the road or when being charged. While officially the cases are ‘under investigation’, reports appearing in the media, quoting experts, are near unanimous in blaming the poor quality of batteries as the leading cause. This is further attributed to poor cell quality, shoddy design and poor battery management system. At a time when electric mobility is said to be the future and EVs, especially 2-wheelers, are becoming popular, such incidents only dampen the enthusiasm of those willing to invest in the high initial cost of the vehicle in anticipation of the low running cost.
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has urged the government to frame proper standards and regulations for manufacturing of electric vehicles as well as batteries. Ideally, this should have been done before granting licences for the manufacture and sale of EVs. The existing standards and regulations are clearly inadequate to address the various issues and concerns as evident from the cases reported as well as the request from FADA mentioned above. EVs are the need of the hour in view of the high costs of fossil fuels, their finite nature, as well as the highly damaging environmental impact. While the jury is still out on the vital question of how green is the average EV, various studies have also indicated that over the lifecycle, the EV has an overall advantage in terms of the carbon footprint of its ICE counterpart.
Big Data & Analytics is the theme of the Cover Story in this edition of Industrial Automation. While many organisations are still in the exploratory phase in this area, those companies that are already invested in data analytics are reaping the benefits in terms of better business intelligence for decision making. Modernising the IT infrastructure holds the key to better data analytics. This leads to improved operational efficiencies, better compliance and regulatory as well as safety procedures and better products and revenue streams. Above all, it helps organisations in their digital transformation journey.
