Govt To Set Up EV Battery Testing Centres In Mumbai, Kolkata In FY24

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SUMMARY

The National Test House will offer testing services for EV batteries and charging systems at its Mumbai and Kolkata centres from FY24

Following several EV fire incidents in the country earlier this year, the government tightened the safety standards for EV batteries

The government may soon also impose penalties on companies whose vehicles were involved in the fire incidents

With the increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country, the government’s National Test House (NTH) will offer testing services for EV batteries and charging systems at its Mumbai and Kolkata centres from FY24.

“Electric vehicles are going to add to our daily lives. In order to have sufficient testing facilities, we are making our labs future-ready as the demand is going to increase,” Nidhi Khare, additional secretary in the Consumer Affairs Ministry, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Currently, Manesar-based International Centre for Automotive Technology and Pune-based Automatic Research Association of India (ARAI) are the only two agencies that provide testing services for EVs and their batteries.

Earlier this year, the government tightened the safety standards for EV batteries by amending AIS 156 and AIS 038 Rev.2 standards for different EV categories following a series of fire incidents involving EVs in the country. Two-wheeler EVs of a number of OEMs, including Ola Electric, Okinawa Autotech, and Pure EV, were involved in fire incidents, mostly during summer months.

The amended standards include additional safety requirements related to EV battery cells, Battery Management System (BMS), battery pack design, on-board charger, thermal propagation, among others.

Speaking about the fire incidents, Khare was cited in a CNBC report as saying that the government may soon impose penalties on the companies whose vehicles were involved in those incidents.

Earlier this year, the government had issued show-cause notices to two-wheeler EV manufacturers whose vehicles were involved in fire incidents.

In order to bring quality consciousness, verify consumer claims, and conduct tests as per the mandated standards, the government will also launch the National Test House (NTH) app soon.

Public procurement of bulk buys needs quality assurance and the government aims to achieve this through this app, Khare said.

Meanwhile, the demand for two-wheeler EVs witnessed a mild dip in November after a steady growth over the past five months. The total number of EV registrations in the segment fell 1% to 76,163 units in November from 76,953 units in October, as per Vahan data on December 1.

According to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the share of EVs in new two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicle sales is expected to rise to 50% and 70%, respectively, in the country by 2030.