The Centre has stated that EV bike-makers are misusing rules for low-powered vehicles. This has created a nuisance that cannot be fined legally because by law, the said scooters are allowed to ply without mandatory display of insurance and number plates. The center has asked the state’s police to crack down on such cases.

The center has urged the state governments to crack down on manufacturers and dealers of electric two-wheelers. Some of the users are allegedly bypassing the regulatory norms by taking advantage of legal provisions that allow certain categories of such two-wheelers out of the ambit of “motor vehicles”.

The rules state that vehicle equipped with a smaller 0.25 kWh battery that can hold charge for 30 minutes or less, and with a top speed of 25 km/hr are not treated as motor vehicles. Therefore, these products are exempted from norms such as type approval, insurance, and mandatory display of number plates are not applicable for such vehicles.

A report by TOI stated that some manufacturers are misusing this provision. For after they get the go-ahead from testing agencies of complying with norms, they fix larger batteries of higher capacity. These poses a huge risk to road users, a transport ministry official stated.

The higher-capacity batteries that are fitted by the manufacturers have a top speed of 40-50 kmph. And they are fitted without type approval. Thus the vehicles are regarded as tampered and the verification by testing agencies becomes null and void.

Major e2Ws include the likes of Ola Electric, Ather, Bajaj, TVS, or even the Ultraviolette retail electric two-wheelers that can retain charge for more than 30 minutes. And they have a top speed of 80 km/hr or 120 km/hr depending upon the model.

Source: timesnownews