New Delhi, Aug 22 : As the government investigates incidents of fire in electric two-wheelers.Only 1 percent of consumers are planning to purchase an electric scooter in the next 6 months due to security and performance concerns according to a report released on Monday.Around 32 percent of people who surveyed aren’t convinced of the safety or effectiveness of electric scooters in August.However, in March of this year the figure was 17 percent.
This is despite the fact that over two dozen electric scooters caught on fire in April and March, as per the data from social media platform for communities LocalCircles.
When more than two dozen electric scooters caught on fire in April and March, about 7000 units were “voluntarily” removed by electric scooter manufacturers like Ola, Pure EV, and Okinawa.
The government has set up an expert committee of experts from the Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) and the Indian Institute of Science to investigate the issue in depth and formulate ‘quality-centric’ guidelines for EV manufacturers.These guidelines are expected to be released shortly.
The result of EV fires is that only one percent of more than 11,000 people who responded have said they are planning to purchase an electric scooter in the next six months.
Nearly 5 percent stated they were keen to purchase but “were not sure about the infrastructure available for electric scooters in the area where I work or live” and 7 per cent said that they don’t have the funds to purchase e-scooters.
It also showed that the demand for electric scooters isn’t that great since 31 percent of households don’t use them and a further 9 per cent of respondents said they have enough cars at home, so they did not have plans to purchase two-wheelers.
“The fire incidents that resulted in injuries to some with the loss of vehicle, adversely affected consumer sentiments, resulting in a decline in two-wheeler electric vehicles sales over the course of two months,” the study said.
Ather Energy and Ola Electric have experienced the largest decline in sales, as customers put off buying EVs because of battery fire incidents.
There are more than 1,640 charging stations in India, of which more than 940 are in nine mega cities.
Of these 678 EV charging stations were constructed between October 2021 to January 2022.
The current capacity is designed to power approximately 1.8 lakh electric vehicles.
While there are many who want to purchase e-scooters, concerns regarding safety and performance is growing.
“It is crucial for industry and the government to increase confidence from consumers,” the report mentioned.
na/vd
