Photo Of EV Parked In ‘Basking Sunlight’ At Bengaluru Mall Has Ather Executive’s Attention

A recent observation by a Bengaluru-based photographer has sparked a conversation about electric vehicles (EVs) in public spaces. Nishant Ratnakar took to social media to highlight that a popular mall in the city has designated an outdoor parking lot specifically for EVs, contrasting with a multi-storied parking facility for other vehicles. This move, according to Ratnakar, reflects an “irrational fear psychosis” towards EVs. In his post on social media platform X (Formerly Twitter), Ratnakar shared a photo of the EV parking zone at the South Bengaluru mall, showing a board indicating it as such.

He expressed confusion over the decision to make EVs park in the scorching sun outside, despite the availability of a spacious multi-level parking area nearby. “There is some irrational fear psychosis in Nexus Mall Koramangala in Bengaluru with regards to Electric Vehicles. While there is a big multi-level parking (as seen on left), they make EVs to be parked in baking sunlight outside. EV manufacturers kindly speak to them,” reads the caption of the post.

Ratnakar also mentioned that the mall’s security staff cited a recent fire incident involving a truck transporting EVs as a reason for the separate parking arrangement. This rationale, according to him, perpetuates misconceptions about EVs and unfairly singles them out.

Seeking intervention from EV manufacturer Ather Energy, Ratnakar tagged the company’s founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, urging them to address the issue with the mall’s management. He also tagged Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, hoping that industry leaders could help dispel myths surrounding EVs.

Responding to the situation, popular X account Peak Bengaluru tagged Aravind Prasad, head of charging infrastructure at Ather Energy, asking for the company’s involvement. Prasad assured them that they would reach out to the mall regarding the matter.

The incident comes against the backdrop of several fire-related incidents involving electric vehicles, particularly two-wheelers, in recent years.

In April 2022, Ola Electric announced the recall of 1,441 units of its electric two-wheelers following reports of vehicles catching fire in various parts of the country. Similarly, Okinawa Autotech and PureEV recalled over 3,000 and around 2,000 units respectively due to similar concerns.