The heavy and tranquil air in Gurgaon on the chilly winter night of December 17 was jolted an hour before midnight at Kanhai–a small hamlet in Sector 45 inhabited mostly by low income migrant families. As worried residents fearing the worst rushed out of their homes, 60 year old Suresh Sahu and his family were unmoved. The explosion had happened in their small one room shack engulfing it in thick smoke trapping Sahu, his wife and three children inside. The impact of the explosion was such it cracked the walls and the roof in multiple places. It proved to be a blessing in disguise.
“These cracks gave an outlet for the smoke. Else nobody would have survived,” says Ramesh Kumar, Sahu’s neighbor. “The door was locked from inside and the only window was also blocked to insulate the room from the winter chill. We had to break the window to rescue the survivors. The room was full of smoke and fire. It was the most grotesque scene one can imagine. Sahu had died instantly.”
It was not a bomb though that had gone off. Instead it is believed to be a pair of lithium ion batteries that belonged to little known Gurgaon based EV firm HCD. A thorough investigation is underway but Sahu’s extended family, neighbors and initial police reports–including the statement from Kuldeep Dahiya station house officer at Sector 40, all said the batteries were at fault. The allegation–the portable batteries were being charged inside the room and exploded in the middle of the night causing the fire. They belonged to cargo scooter NPS–HCD’s sole offering in the market.
“My brother Manoj had started working for this company only a few months ago. He used to bring the scooter home on a regular basis,” says Jitender Sahu, the eldest son in the family and a step brother to Manoj. 60 year old Suresh Sahu had married twice.
“It is very clear that the incident happened due to the explosion in the batteries. There can be no other reason. There were other flammable items in the room as well including LPG cylinders but they are intact,” Sahu adds.
When ETAuto visited the room, it found the charred remains of the batteries along with the scooter inside the room (see pictures) while the cylinders were kept outside. At the time of the incident, the scooter was outside and the cylinders were inside. Both are intact.
HCD India reacts
When contacted, HCD India gave an elaborate response to ETAuto’s detailed list of questions (to read the full response, scroll to the bottom of the story). Not all were answered but they did offer their version of the cause of the fire. Not surprisingly, they said the batteries were not to be blamed.
“HCD India conducted a preliminary investigation before releasing an official statement. It is difficult to ascertain if the initial cause of fire was the rupture of a battery. The flames, however, had engulfed the batteries, LPG Cylinders, blankets and other combustible substances kept in close proximity. The home did not have adequate electrical earthing and fire safety measures. This setup is extremely unsafe for charging any battery for any application,” it said in the statement. “Batteries not certified or provided by HCD India were also present at the location. Batteries certified/provided by HCD India were found to be in a non ruptured state.”
The company admitted that Manoj Sahu is an employee with the firm with an association going back 6 months. It said Sahu was one of its most trusted and experienced employees. It also gave full details of the steps the company has taken to offer support to the family including footing the bill for the ambulance and cab for ferrying the injured to and from the hospital, and that it would sit with Manoj once he recovers to discuss the mishap.
“HCD India is a people centric company committed to taking care of its employees and customers even when the company is not responsible for the misuse as a form of humane gesture,” the statement said. “There is no bitterness amongst anyone as this is an unfortunate incident that has resulted in the loss of a life due to human error and negligence on the users part. The company however will stand by its employee to ensure quick recovery and any assistance required for the same is being provided and will continue to be provided. HCD India has a clean track record of very satisfied customers with no safety compromises till date. HCD INDIA stands behind their products and services.”
A number of similar instances of batteries catching fire in EVs in India have come to the fore in the last few months–ETAuto has extensively reported on these, but this is the first time when a life has been lost. The company admitted that instances like these put the entire industry under the scanner but added that an EV was no more dangerous than a conventional combustion engine vehicle or a gas cylinder at home, if operated correctly.
“EV industry in India is at a very nascent stage. It is a growing, safe, economical and environmentally positive industry. Every member of this industry is trying its best to ensure safe usage and positive feedback. Unfortunately, because of the nascency and small size of the industry along with the relatively new nature of the technology such incidents put the entire industry in a bad light,” the statement said. “HCD INDIA takes all required measures to keep the technology and vehicle safe to use if used correctly within our given parameters. An EV is in no way is more dangerous than a Gasoline powered vehicle or an LPG cylinder used at home if used correctly. Misuse or incorrect usage habits do result in such unfortunate events in households. We as a company, urge people not to be detested by such incidents but to understand the technology and take appropriate safety measures to ensure the technology serves them safely and for their betterment. HCD INDIA stands by all of our customers and employees.”
In a separate updated statement it stressed that it wanted to ascertain the real cause of the fire and was bringing in industry experts to liaison with the police and fire department for a detailed investigation. It would share the results of this investigation shortly. ETAuto will update this story once the results are made available to it.
Testing agencises ICAT/ARAI evasive, industry in denial mode
A man dead and the lives of four others altered irreversibly, the incident in Gurgaon smacks of a systemic failure. The signs that a tragedy like this might happen were already there. Since September a number of electric scooters have caught fire across the country largely due to poor quality of materials used to make them. It is a problem that has afflicted the nascent global electric vehicle industry with companies like General Motors and Hyundai undertaking massive recall exercises. With sales rising, the chances of such malfunctions also increasing are fairly high.
While individual companies are in the direct line of fire, a fair share of blame must also go to government testing agencies– International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), that certify that vehicles are fit to ply on the roads. In this case, the HCD India website for example prominently mentions that its batteries have been tested by ICAT.
ETAuto sent a detailed questionnaire to both ICAT and ARAI on this issue following it up with repeated text messages but is yet to receive any response so far. We will update the story as and if we hear from them. Some of the questions that we asked pertain to whether the testing protocols and regulations need to be updated in light of these incidents, or if the agencies have taken note and were planning to investigate the cause of fire from their side.
The silence extends to the industry at large as well. None of the top 10 electric two wheeler companies in India or the three industry bodies–Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) or Automotive Components Manufacturers Association (ACMA) offered a reaction to the mishap. The silence is deafening.
The root cause of the problem is not difficult to guess. Low entry barrier, the promise of high growth and a ready made sourcing destination in China–world’s largest electric vehicle market, has led to scores of companies mushrooming almost overnight in India. With the traditional players not fully committed to the EV story, the field is wide open for newer players to emerge. Not everybody though is a long term player and the compulsion to cut corners to bring costs down has lead to sub standard materials being used in batteries.
“With several players entering the EV space, the onus of stringent quality checks of cells, safe manufacturing of batteries and thorough vehicle testing lies with the manufacturers,” an official with a leading electric two wheeler company told ETAuto on condition of anonymity. “While India has some of the most stringent tests for batteries, its implementation is a bigger cause of worry at this stage. But despite what the government mandates, the manufacturers need to prioritise passenger safety during the vehicle testing phase. Such incidents could discourage potential buyers from owning EVs.”
Fortunately, India has updated its regulations on batteries and now has some of the most stringent tests in the world. Yet, lack of conformity of production (COP) procedure for EVs means the implementation is tardy. COP is already in place in many industries including the traditional automotive sector but comes into force for EVs only by December 2022. COP mandates recurring random testing of vehicles to ensure consistency in quality and efficiency in line with those that passed the tests in the first place.
“COP needs to be implemented at the earliest because without that manufacturers can send one type of vehicle for testing but alter them while selling in the market. It would put an end to this malpractice,” says Samrath Kochar, founder and CEO, Trontek that assembles and sells lithium ion batteries. “Also, it is time to put an end to low speed electric two wheelers because they are unregulated and do not fall in the ambit any kind of testing.”
Electric vehicles powered by lithium ion batteries are central to the global war against climate change but exploding batteries only weaken the cause. A man’s life is a heavy price for a wake up call.
Full text of HCD India response :
Manoj Sahu works with HCD India on a part time basis, as a servicing technician. He handles all service related issues for our vehicles in DelhiNCR. He is one of our most trusted and experienced employees. He himself has been in the industry for over 3 years and has been working with us for the past 6 months. He has been a model employee and person.
We provided Manoj with a vehicle and 2 batteries certified by HCD India to execute his service duties.
Manoj’s younger brother Saroj was also a part of the EV industry but not with HCD INDIA.
HCD India conducted a preliminary investigation before releasing an official statement.
The following discoveries were made:-
- Batteries not certified or provided by HCD India were also present at the location.
- The home did not have adequate electrical earthing and fire safety measures.
- It is difficult to ascertain if the initial cause of fire was the rupture of a battery.
- The flames, however, had engulfed the batteries, LPG Cylinders, blankets and other combustible substances kept in close proximity.
- This setup is extremely unsafe for charging any battery for any application.
- Batteries certified/provided by HCD India were found to be in a non ruptured state even in the initials images released by the press.
On the day of the incident
- Manoj and his family were quickly transported to Safdarjung Hospital under the Burn dept for treatment.
- HCD India ensured payment of ambulance and company representatives were present in the hospital during admission.
- His Brother Saroj and younger brother, were discharged on the same day and sent back home via company booked taxi.
- Manoj and his mother have been given visits everyday by company officials.
- HCD India is a people centric company committed to taking care of its employees and customers even when the company is not responsible for the misuse as a form of humane gesture.
- Manoj has some internal dispute with his extended family and has requested company to have all discussions related to any help that he may need with him directly.
- We are happy to report that he is recovering quickly and should be discharged in the next 48-72 hrs.
- Manoj has further requested that once he is back home for further recovery he would like to sit down with the company officials to discuss the incidence and take preventative measures in the future along with discussion of any and all help, he and his family will need to recover from this physically, mentally & economically.
- There is no bitterness amongst anyone as this is an unfortunate incident that has resulted in the loss of a life due to human error and negligence on the users part.
- The company however will stand by its employee to ensure quick recovery and any assistance required for the same is being provided and will continue to be provided.
- HCD India has a clean track record of very satisfied customers with no safety compromises till date. HCD INDIA stands behind their products and services.
EV industry in India is at a very nascent stage. It is a growing, safe, economical and environmentally positive industry. Every member of this industry is trying its best to ensure safe usage and positive feedback. Unfortunately, because of the nascency and small size of the industry along with the relatively new nature of the technology such incidents put the entire industry in a bad light. HCD INDIA takes all required measures to keep the technology and vehicle safe to use if used correctly within our given parameters. An EV is in no way is more dangerous than a Gasoline powered vehicle or an LPG cylinder used at home if used correctly. Misuse or incorrect usage habits do result in such unfortunate events in households. We as a company, urge people not to be detested by such incidents but to understand the technology and take appropriate safety measures to ensure the technology serves them safely and for their betterment. HCD INDIA stands by all of our customers and employees.
As for Manoj, we had mentioned previously he is our model employee and we stand behind him in full support.
With sporadic cases of electric vehicles catching fire coming to the fore, India needs timely regulations to prevent it. Thankfully in AIS 156 it has one of the most stringent tests worldwide. But there is a catch–implementation is shoddy.
Video of Gwalior based Super Eco’s X1 on fire surfaced on social media recently. The company blamed a Bangalore based third party battery vendor for the mishap. SuperEco also supplies the scooter to Sahara Evols, the EV firm of Sahara Group that had made a low key entry in the segment in mid 2019.
Third fire incident in recent times raises questions on fire safety in EV batteries. Company says it will investigate the incident & hopes it will not dampen the overall favorable climate for EVs.
Videos of Epluto scooters on fire have gone viral on social media raising concerns over the safety aspect of EVs in general. If not nipped in the bud, it can potentially undermine India’s nascent electric mobility revolution.
