After recently announcing a replacement fork for existing customers, Ola Electric has published a detailed blog explaining the changes to the new front suspension. The move comes amid growing concerns over the accidents and crashes that have made the news over the past year. However, the company insists this is not a “recall,” even though its decision to offer an upgraded front suspension appears to be similar to the recall.
Ola Electric said in its blog that the company is facing “concerted action by publishing pictures of damaged front forks.” The company said it has reported 218 faults out of more than 200,000 vehicles it has sold so far, with a cumulative Covering more than 700 million vehicle kilometers. The company expanded further, and of the 218 cases, 184 were accidents and 34 were indeterminate. This makes up for a failure rate of 0.015% or 34 out of 200,000 vehicles. Note that these figures have been independently verified by the company and HT Auto have not been the same.
ALSO READ: Ola Electric replaces front forks on S1 and S1 Pro e-scooters
The new fork for the Ola S1 series is said to have a 250% safety margin
What’s new in the Ola S1 front suspension?
Ola Electric said images circulating on social media had affected some customers. That’s why the company decided to offer the upgraded front suspension for free. For the new fork, the manufacturer says it will redesign the unit in August 2022 after seeing the first inconclusive cases last May. The unit completed the tooling, testing and validation process in December and will enter production in January 2023.
Compared with conventional double-wishbone suspensions, the original design components have a safety margin of 75 percent, while the new design has a safety margin of 250 percent, the company said.
Ola also reiterated that while it acquired Amsterdam-based Etergo, which formed the basis of the S1 electric scooter, the model has been completely redesigned to best suit the Indian market. The manufacturer also said the vehicle has undergone three levels of testing – digital simulation, component testing and vehicle laboratory testing, as well as vehicle field testing.
Ola Electric says its vehicles have undergone 3 levels of testing – digital simulation, component testing and vehicle laboratory testing; and vehicle field testing
About why not recall
Additionally, Ola Electric insists that fork replacement is optional and free, but not eligible for the recall. The company explained the same in its blog, “Usually in order to order a recall, the regulator sets a ceiling for failures beyond which automakers have to recall. In India, this is 10% of all vehicles sold.”
“In our case, the failure rate is really low. OEMs at these levels of failures are not going to call for a full recall right away. We usually look at the part for longer life and maybe decide in a few more months See if the failure rate is rising above acceptable thresholds,” the blog read.
However, the company said it has “decided to allow all of our customers to use the upgraded version if they feel more comfortable. The original part does not violate any safety restrictions of any OEM standard.”
First published date: March 18, 2023 at 15:11 PM CST
https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/ola-electric-outlines-changes-with-new-front-suspension-presses-not-a-recall-41679130901104.html