Ola Electric joined other Indian startups on Sunday in recalling electric scooters after several vehicles caught fire in separate incidents.
“We will be conducting a detailed diagnostics and health check of the scooters in that specific batch and therefore are issuing a voluntary recall of 1,441 vehicles,” Ola Electric said in a statement on Sunday.
The recall by Softbank-backed Ola Electric comes weeks after one of its vehicles caught fire, prompting a government probe into the accident.
Scooters made by Okinawa and PureEV have caught fire over the past two months, in what could be a setback for a nascent sector key to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s carbon reduction and climate goals.
The government launched a probe into the fires in March, and formed a panel to suggest remedial steps. Okinawa recalled 3,215 vehicles this month.
India wants electric scooters and motorbikes to make up 80% of total two-wheeler sales by 2030, compared with about 2% today, and Modi’s administration is offering companies billions of dollars in incentives to make EVs locally.
Ola said it supported an EV safety policy, and a preliminary assessment of one of its vehicles catching fire revealed the incident was an isolated one.
- Sean OMeara, with Reuters
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