Safety concerns holding back people keen to buy electric scooters, just 1% willing to purchase one: Survey

NEW DELHI:Even though many people are keen to buy e-scooters as an attractive alternative to non-electric two wheelers or crowded public transport, concerns over safety and performance have been rising. Acccording to a survey by LocalCircles, 32% of respondents have highlighted this as their biggest reason for not considering electric scooters when looking at buying their next two-wheeler. This number stood at 17% in March and 2% in August 2021, a year ago when many electric scooter manufacturers opened their bookings.
After more than two dozen electric two-wheelers caught fire in March and April, around 7,000 units were “voluntarily” recalled by electric scooter makers such as Ola, Pure EV and Okinawa.
The government had however issued an advisory on April 21, urging EV manufacturers to immediately recall all defective batches of vehicles as a precaution or face a heavy penalty. The government has also set up a committee of experts from Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) and Indian Institute of Science to carry out detailed investigation and frame ‘quality-centric’ guidelines for electric vehicle manufacturers.