Wednesday, June 08, 2022
By Kamal Swami
BIS Norms Won’t Effect The Production Of Electric Scooters
According to recent reports, the Department of Consumer Affairs has started preparing a draft related to the standards for the batteries of electric scooters by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This news has created a fuss among the manufacturers of these scooters, due to recent incidents of electric scooters catching fire. Going through the concern of the manufacturers of these scooters, Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), said, these standards would be flexible and encourage innovation and value addition in the sector.
It would be important to note that these standards are being developed at the time when the news regarding the electric scooters catching the fire has shattered the whole country. The main reason that was found responsible for these accidents were faulty battery cells and modules.
In the words of Mr Singh, the BIS norms for batteries are developed after discussions with the manufacturers of electric scooters. According to him, these norms will focus on the quality of cells, connectivity protocol, and size. Mr Singh said, that these norms will not create any obstacles in the growth of the electric vehicles industry.
It would be important to remember that during a discussion held last month, NITI Ayod had focussed on the necessity for BIS standards for the national battery swapping policy. “Safety and reliability of the battery is one of the primary concerns surrounding the prospects of battery swapping.”
In its discussion paper, NITI Aayog said that if the policy for battery swapping of electric vehicles becomes famous, it will be important for the government to determine regularity standards for the battery swapping without any compromise with the performance of the battery.
During April 2022, NITI Aayog sent a draft for comments from the stakeholders regarding the policy related to battery swapping. In the draft, it was mentioned that the cost of electric vehicles reduces by swapping the discharged batteries with the new ones.
Going through the need for setting up the charging stations for electric vehicles on a huge scale, honourable minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman announced the introduction of a battery swapping policy and interoperability standards for improving efficiency in the EV ecosystem while presenting the budget for 2022-23.
