New Delhi witnesses a record temperature as the mercury hits above 49 degrees Celsius in parts of the city. The mercury touched 49.2 degrees Celsius at Mungeshpur in northwest Delhi and 49.1 degrees Celsius at Najafgarh in southwest part of the city, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday. The Safdarjung Observatory recorded 45.6 degrees Celsius, the highest this year for Delhi’s base station. IMD said, The maximum temperature recorded in the Observatory on the day was five notches above normal. “Delhi recorded 45.6 degree maximum today. Highest for the season,” said Mahesh Palawat, Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change) of Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency.  Palawat added, “Relief is possible tomorrow as isolated pre-monsoon dust storm and thunderstorm is possible.”

IMD has predicted a thunderstorm or a dust storm in the national capital on Monday. The rise in temperature has to be kept a check on considering how a transition to EVs from ICE is taking place. Recently, multiple cases of electric two-wheelers catching fire has surfaced on the internet giving birth to newfound anxiety among customers in regards to purchasing EVs. Multiple OEMs have been asked by the government to hat production/recall their vehicles to do a thorough check and find out the cause of such incidents.

The Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari said, “In March-April-May, the temperature rises, then there is some problem with the battery (of EVs). I feel that it (electric two-wheelers catching fire) is a problem of (high) temperature,”.He further added, “We understand that the EV industry has just started. We don’t want to put a hurdle. But safety is the highest priority for the government and there can be no compromise with human lives.”

Considering how these vehicles were the first batch of production and these batteries will only get old with time, adjacently summers will only see a rise in temperature as years go by. These batteries must go through enough scrutiny to withstand the Indian weather conditions, especially summers that get hotter by the year.

Deb Mukherji, Managing Director at Omega Seiki Mobility said, “Manufacturers need to evaluate their vehicles multiple times before they launch a product. Such incidents will only lead to rising insecurity and doubts in the minds of customers and negative market sentiment will affect the EV industry and its growth.”

Watch out for an in-depth story in the upcoming issue on how fires have forced a rethink.