The Government is cognizant of fire incidents involving electric vehicles. While specific, centralized data solely tracking battery-fire incidents across the country is not available, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has implemented the eDAR (Electronic Detailed Accident Report) portal to monitor road accidents. As per data available on the eDAR portal, which began capturing a dedicated field for Motorized Electric Vehicles from 14.11.2022 onwards, a total of 23,865 accidents involving electric vehicles have been recorded across various States over the last three years, as detailed in the table below. Of these, 26 incidents involving fire in electric vehicles have been reported across various States during the same period, as indicated below.

To determine the root causes of these incidents, MoRTH constituted an investigating team of independent experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bengaluru, and the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL) Visakhapatnam. Based on the recommendations of this committee and a subsequent committee of experts, the Government implemented the following outcomes:

Safety Standard Amendments: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had constituted a committee of experts to suggest the formulation of safety standards for the battery and its components, as well as BMS and related systems in electric vehicles. Based on the recommendation of the committee, MoRTH vide S.O. 4567 (E) dated 28.09.2022 has brought amendment to the Automotive Industry Standards, AIS:156 [Specific requirements for L (a motor vehicle less than four wheels and quadricycle) category electric power train vehicles] and AIS:038 (Rev 2) [Specific Requirements for M Category, (a motor vehicle with at least four wheels used for carrying passenger)

N Category (a motor vehicle with at least four wheels used for carrying goods) Electric Power Train Vehicles] to prescribe Technical Requirements for Traction Battery of L, M and N Category of Electric Power Train Vehicles. The said Amendments are applicable from 01.12.2022.

Conformity of Production (COP): MoRTH had issued a notification, vide G.S.R 888(E) dated 19.12.2022, for the requirements of Conformity of Production (COP), in respect of all categories of Electric vehicles including Quadricycles, E-rickshaws, two wheelers and four wheelers.

The Government has no proposal or intention to stop the manufacture or use of electric vehicles in the country. Instead of halting production, the Government’s strategy is to strengthen the safety ecosystem through more rigorous testing standards and regulatory oversight while continuing to promote adoption to meet greenhouse gas mitigation targets and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Heavy Industries, Shri Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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TPJ/NJ