'Unrealistic': Electric vehicle makers on new safety features deadline

The standards were discussed during a meeting hosted by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) last week

All the additional safety requirements for electric vehicles (EVs), including those for batteries, proposed by the government cannot be implemented with immediate effect, according to EV makers. They claimed those measures can only be in a phased, time-bound manner.

The new standards — according to a draft notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) on Thursday — are to be implemented from October 1. This is even as most of them conceded that the proposed standards are aligned to the best practices globally and shall help make EVs safer, albeit at a higher cost.

“Though the standards being