The government is planning to engage with the companies of the electric two-wheelers that recently caught fire. As the government has ordered an investigation into how the vehicles caught fire suddenly, and the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are trying to figure out what caused the fires, the government is preparing to revise all the testing norms for batteries, battery management, and cells.
A CNBC-News 18 report quoting sources said that the government will if necessary give directions to the companies whose electric two-wheelers caught fire. Revising standards for quality assurance and quality control at the manufacturers’ end are priorities of the government.
EVs are powered by lithium-ion batteries, of the kind used in cellphones and smartwatches, which are generally considered to be efficient and light compared to their counterparts. However, as all lithium-ion cells are imported into India as of now, they may not be suitable for Indian weather conditions.
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The likelihood is that the EV fire hazard will reduce over time, as the industry moves towards solid-state batteries and technology developments that are less sensitive to ‘thermal runaway’ and other associated events. A key challenge is the continually evolving arrangement of batteries at both a cell and pack level. Battery chemistry is evolving with higher nickel cathodes being adopted, LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries making a resurgence and more attention has drifted towards solid-state batteries. These changes have impact on the requirements around thermal management and materials in electric vehicle batteries.
Any firm conclusions on fire risks are not yet possible because there is not adequate data to determine that fully electric two-wheelers are more prone to spontaneous fire than internal combustion engine (ICE) ones. As the battery electric vehicle (BEV) revolution gathers speed, spontaneous electric two-wheeler fires have attracted media attention. It’s easy to make the inert assumption that this is somehow an issue with 100% electric two-wheelers. After all, a bog-standard internal combustion engine (ICE) two, three, or four-wheeler on fire would probably not be in the headlines.
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