EV Explosion
40 yr-old man dies in EV battery explosion in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada
Vijayawada: A 40-year-old man was killed and his wife seriously injured when the battery of his new electric bike exploded in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada in the early hours of Saturday, media reports said.
According to media reports, independent DTP worker K Siva Kumar had bought the electric bike on Thursday.
The victim had connected the detachable battery of the vehicle for charging in his bedroom on Friday night, Suryaraopet Inspector of Police V Janaki Ramaiah said, adding that the battery suddenly exploded in the early hours when all were fast asleep.
The explosion triggered a minor fire in which some household items and the air conditioning machine were gutted.
The family was pulled out by neighbours who noticed smoke billowing out of the house, the report said.
Sivakumar died while being shifted to a hospital in an ambulance.
His wife suffered burn injuries and was admitted to a private hospital for treatment, where she was kept under 48-hour observation, police added.
Their two children also suffered from asphyxiation but were stable, the police added.
On Thursday, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, taking note of several mishaps involving electric two-wheelers in the last two months, urged the EV manufacturers to make voluntary recalls of defective batches.
The minister informed that an Expert Committee has been constituted to enquire into these incidents and make recommendations on remedial steps.
He said that based on the reports necessary orders on the defaulting companies will be issued and quality-centric guidelines for Electric Vehicles will also be issued soon.
"If any company is found negligent in their processes, a heavy penalty will be imposed and a recall of all defective vehicles will also be ordered," he warned.
Gadkari's tweet came on a day when an 80-year-old man died while his wife and grandson suffered burn injuries when the battery of an electric scooter exploded in their house in Nizamabad town on Tuesday night, as per TOI.
A case has been registered against the manufacturer, Pure EV, the manufacturer of the vehicle.
Police investigation revealed that the battery triggered flames after the owner put the battery on charge.
Three scooters manufactured by Okinawa have caught fire since October, resulting in two being injured.
Okinawa Autotech will recall 3,215 Praise Pro electric scooters in the first instance of an Indian manufacturer doing so after a spate of recent fires, said to be related to batteries, ET reported.
Ola Electric and Jitendra EV are two other manufacturers which had their electric scooters catch fire in the last three weeks, media reports said.
Earlier, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant urged that EV OEMs voluntarily recall batches linked to EV fires.
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