With petrol prices increasing each day, many people have started to switch from ICE vehicles to electric vehicles. With Indian roads filled with electric vehicles such as Ola EV, pure EV, Okinawa EV, Revolt, etc., it came as a shock to everyone when the news of explosions of E-vehicles surfaced frequently. Indian states such as Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, are witnessing an increase in explosion cases. There were incidents of e-vehicle explosions in the early years, there have been more than six incidents of e-vehicle explosions around India recently due to battery and other causes.
E-vehicle demand on the market
With the recent billionaire who is also the CEO of Tesla, an electric car manufacturing company, many other companies across the globe have started investing in electric vehicles. India has also started adapting to the upcoming technology.
In the budget 2022, Nirmala Sitharaman proposed policies that focus on providing proper support to technological manufacturing and its frameworks, which are helpful to electric vehicle manufacturers and their customers. She also included a battery swapping policy that encourages more people to use e-vehicles. While the government of India is in full support of electric vehicles and their manufacturing and sales in India, the explosion of electric vehicles has made people distrust futuristic technology.
The incidents of the E-vehicle explosion
E-vehicle explosions aren’t rare due to the presence of lithium in batteries, which can explode due to many possibilities. But in just a couple of months, there were more than six cases of EV explosions. On March 26th, a video of an Ola EV burning in the middle of the road went viral. This made people acknowledge the explosion of e-vehicles. On the same day, while a father and his daughter were riding an Okinawa e-scooter, they both died on the spot due to an unexpected explosion of their e-vehicle.
Cases like this started emerging from all major states, such as Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, etc. There was also a case in Nizamabad where the battery of the Pure EV blew while it was charging. This resulted in the death of an 80-year-old grandfather, while his wife and his grandson faced several injuries. Cases were filed against these companies, and the investigations are still going on. With no proper conclusion as to how exactly these things are happening. Experts shared some of the reasons why the batteries are blasting.
Reasons for the explosion of electric vehicles
The first and foremost reason is because of its content. With a lithium battery, the electrolyte acts as a medium for the ions to transfer, thus making a working model of the EV batteries.
So when the electrolyte present inside the battery gets heated up, it might be one of the main reasons for the explosion. There are other reasons, such as:
- The poor quality of the battery.
- The poor quality of the charger might cause the wires to melt, resulting in a short circuit.
- Exterior damage is done to the battery.
- Overcharging and more.
Image Source: zeenews
While these are the reasons it might cause fire, the temperature rise in India during summer is an addition to the list.
How often does this happen in other countries?
Overheating of electric vehicles is common, even the top manufacturer of EVs, Tesla, cars frequently receives complaints about overheating. Over 130k Tesla car owners raised complaints about the overheating issue. But explosion rates are less compared to those that happened in India as most of the top developed battery vehicles have BMS (battery management system) installed in them, which keeps monitoring the batteries and opening valves in places that indicate heating inside the battery. But as it might increase the cost of making and prices of EVs, most electric vehicles follow passive heating methods such as air openings near the battery spot
The future of EVs in India
The government’s new battery swapping policy might make some new changes to the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and provide safety and access to batteries to users. But the explosions of the vehicles are to be investigated thoroughly. Union minister Nitin Gadkari announced that companies that don’t take their customers’ safety into account might face hard times. They might face severe consequences and action will be taken against them.
The rate of petrol isn’t going to decrease anytime soon, but the safety of the drivers is much more important than money. Electric vehicles are the best alternative to the ever-rising problems faced by depending on non-renewable resources as a lubricant for our travel medium. But they are still in their evolving process by putting the batteries under several tests, which might prove to be useful soon.
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