Another Okinawa Autotech EV Dealership Catches Fire In Mangaluru

Two months after electric two-wheeler player Okinawa Autotech’s dealership caught fire in Tamil Nadu in April, one more dealership of the company in Mangaluru went up in flames on Friday (June 24).

Several videos emerged on Twitter where the dealership could be seen engulfed in fire.

In a statement, Okinawa Autotech confirmed the news and said that the fire was caused due to a short circuit event at the dealership, as per the dealer. 

“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,” the statement said. 

“We are in touch with the dealership and we are extending all the necessary support. Safety is at the core of Okinawa Autotech and we want to assure that the highest standards of safety are maintained in our dealerships across the country,” it added.

Okinawa Autotech had also cited an electric short circuit as the reason for the previous fire incident at its dealership. When Inc42 had reached out to the dealership in Tamil Nadu, its representative had said the same thing.

Earlier, the company’s escooter was also involved in a fire incident. In March this year, Okinawa Autotech’s escooter caught fire in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, claiming the lives of two people, including a 13-year-old girl.

Following this and Niti Aayog’s call for a voluntary recall of escooters related to fire incidents,  Okinawa Autotech had recalled 3,215 units of its Praise Pro Scooters in April to fix battery-related issues.

Besides Okinawa Autotech, two-wheeler EVs of many other companies, like Ola Electric, Pure EV, were also involved in fire incidents, raising safety concerns about EVs in the country. Tata Motors became the latest company to join the list of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) whose vehicles have been involved in fire incidents as its Nexon four-wheeler EV caught fire in Mumbai on Thursday (June 23).

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has reportedly released the performance standards for EV batteries. 

“The standard IS 17855: 2022 has been formulated for lithium-ion traction battery packs and systems of electrically-propelled road vehicles and it has been harmonised with ISO 12405-4: 2018,” an official told news agency PTI.

Amid the rise in fire incidents, several experts and industry leaders had said that substandard quality of batteries and lack of R&D could be the reason behind these incidents.

Following the increase in such incidents, the Centre had tasked the Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), the fire science and engineering arm of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), to investigate the reasons behind the EV fires. The DRDO also attributed the fire incidents to defects in EV batteries, including the designs of the battery packs and modules.