June 27, 2022
Blog Admin
Okinawa EV dealership catches fire in Mangalore
EV Fire has become the most discussed topic across the country as it has now become a regular affair in India. After Tata Nexon fire in Mumbai last week, now, an Okinawa dealership in Mangalore has been engulfed in flames. Videos of the same have gone viral on the internet and as per reports, a total of 34 electric scooters were completely damaged in this incident.
This tragic event happened on Friday ,June 24 morning and Okinawa Autotech has blamed an electric short circuit for the same. More shocking is the fact, that this is not the first time an Okinawa dealership has burnt down to ashes. In April this year, an Okinawa EV dealership in Tamil Nadu caught fire due to a reported short circuit inside the outlet
In its official statment, OEM Okinawa said, “We are aware of an unfortunate fire incident at one of our showrooms in Mangalore this morning. As stated by the dealer, the fire was caused due to an electric short circuit .We want to assure that the highest standards of safety are maintained in our dealerships across the country”
While no casualties were reported in both these Okinawa dealership fire cases, there have been other instances of Okinawa’s electric scooters catching fire, including the Vellore incident which claimed two lives. There have been several cases of electric fires in the past few months. Scooters of manufacturers like Ola Electric, Jitendra EV, Pure EV, Okinawa and Boom Motors have caught fire. The manufacturer has also recalled several scooters to examine them and solve the issue.
Because of so many incidents, the Indian government launched a probe to find the reason behind the fires. Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) reported that the issue is with the battery design and EV modules. DRDO said that the bad battery design is causing fires. Such defects occur when manufacturers use low-grade materials to reduce the production cost.
The government has also summoned the electric vehicle manufacturers after Defence Research & Development Organisation filed the report. The Union Ministery will hear the companies before taking an appropriate decision on the matter.
The government is also working on making new quality-centric guidelines for Electric Vehicles that will be unveiled soon. The new guidelines will allow the government to ensure that all-electric vehicles offer similar quality.