Ola Electric Scooters – The EV Revolution
With this Covid Pandemic, we have seen very less travel from public, but obivious due to lockdown restrictions. But during same time we have seen petrol and diesel prices sky-rocketing and crossing the Rs. 100/- per liter mark. For normal commute, we always prefer motor bike or Scooter due to its comfort ride and quick handling. But due to increase in Petrol and Diesel prices, people started looking for alternative i.e. electric two wheelers. And Ola just introduced their first electric two wheeler in this segment at right time. So let’s check out Ola Electric Scooter.
Ola – The Cab Company
When we hear word Ola, only thing comes to our mind is the Ola Cab. In recent years, Ola has emerged as the top cab provider company in India. Founded by Bhavish Aggarwal & Ankit Bhati in 2010, it saw many ups and downs. But continuing on their path, Ola emerged as big Cab service provider company and it literally kicked out many local Cab companies out of the market initially by offering very low fares. They even started Auto services in big cities and later tried luck with two wheeler taxies as well.
Ola Electric
Ola spun off its electric vehicles business into a separate unit called Ola Electric Mobility with funding capital in February 2019 by Tiger Global and Matrix India. Apart from electric vehicles, Ola Electric also works on charging solutions, EV batteries and developing viable infrastructure to allow commercial EVs to operate at scale. The company announced on 6 May 2019 that Ratan Tata had invested an undisclosed amount in Ola Electric as part of its Series A round of funding. It raised $250 million from SoftBank during Series B round funding in July 2019, earning a valuation of over $1 billion.
On 27 May 2020, Ola Electric acquired Amsterdam-based EV startup Etergo, which acted as a base to launch it’s own line of electric scooters in 2020-21. And here we are, on 15th Aug 2021, Ola Electric officially launched their first Electric Scooters in India.
Ola Electric Scooters
Automobile market in India shows that 80% of the vehicles sold are two wheelers. Despite that only 12% of India owns a two wheeler. These vehicles consume approx. 12,000 cr liters of fuel every year and are responsible for 40% of air pollution. So if we do simple math, then this will further lead to increase in Pollution only, and we are only talking about India here. World wide numbers are exponentially high. So it’s not surprising that many people are now shifting to Electric vehicles as its clean source of energy without any Air Pollution.
To address this Ola Electric has jumped into Electric Two Wheeler segment and this is made achievable via the Largest two wheeler factory in world, the Ola Futurefactory.
The highlights of Ola Futurefactory are,
- 15% of Global 2W production
- 10 MN Vehicles a year
- One Scooter every 2 sec
Ola Electric claims that this is the biggest building in India. It can hold both Delhi T3 Terminal and Mumbai T2 Terminal. That’s Huge…
The Ola S1 & S1 Pro
The Ola Electric Scooter comes in two variants, Ola S1 & S1 Pro. They sharing almost all key features which makes these scooters stand-out from the crowd, with few prime features for the Pro model.
Design & Build
Colour Options
Ola S1 Comes in 5 colour where as the S1 Pro is offered in additional 5 colours as wells.
Ola S1
- Porcelain White
- Marshmellow
- Neo Mint
- Coral Glam
- Jet Black
Ola S1 Pro
- Porcelain White
- Marshmellow
- Neo Mint
- Coral Glam
- Jet Black
- Liquid Silver
- Millenial Pink
- Anthracite Grey
- Midnight Blue
- Matt Black
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Boot Space
Ola S1 Comes with 36 L of boot space. This can easily hold two helmets or a week’s grocery.
Fluid Design
Ola S1 has bagged the 2020 German Design Award which gives it a global recognition for innovation, sustainability and excellence in design. It comes with Superior Alloy Wheels, Monocoloured Panels & enclosed suspension. Also it has Grab rails for fellow rider, Side Steps which easily get blended with its design & sculpted Seat.
Performance
Main Highlights are as follows.
- 0 to 40 km/h in 3 sec
- 0 to 60 km/h in 5 sec
- 115km/h Top Speed
- 181 km in full charge
- 75 km in 18 min charging via Ola Charging stations
- Cruise Control – First time in 2W
- Best aerodynamics and low center of Gravity for better stability
- Reverse Mode – First time in 2W
- Hill or Slope hold – First time in 2W
Ola S1 Electric Scooters can gain speed of 40 km/h in just 3 sec and 60 km/h in just 5 sec. First time in 2W, specially in Electric category, top speed of 115 km/h is achievable as per claims by Ola. Also it comes with Cruise control, Reverse gear and Hill or Slope hold feature, which is first time for any 2W in India.
It can cover distance of 181 km with one full charge, thanks to its powerful motor with top power of 8.5 kW & 58 NM peak torque. This is in-house designed motor by Ola, thus Designed in India, Best in World.
Digital Cluster
Ola Electric Scooters comes with Digital Key. Smart onboard sensor communicate with your phone (Ola App) to unlock as you approach and lock as you leave, an automatic keyless experience.
It also provide 7 inch full touch screen console with many customisation options. You can create your own profile to suit your liking. There are many Widgets to choose from. Thanks to in-house developed, specifically designed, The Move OS by Ola. This big screen act as full screen Maps as well, thus no compromise to fit things in traditional way. As it full functional OS, its based on backend mini computer which works with 3 GB RAM, OctaCore Processor with connectivity options like 4G, WiFi & Bluetooth.
It also support Voice control, thus you can do all things like, pick up call, ask to increase volume etc. This have inbuilt speaker as well, thus you have music system on the go. You can play your favourite songs and also can control the riding experience including look, feel and even sound your scooter can make, by selecting the your favourite mood from the available options.
Along with these cool stuff, it also comes with Security features like Side Stand alert, Tamper Alert and SOS feature. You can control all of these via your Smartphone with just a tap on screen.
Regarding Maintenance and Service, you can book it easily via the App on your smartphone. Service will be provided at your doorstep. Also AI based predictive maintenance alerts for a service call, so all in control.
Price & Availability
As per Ola Electric, the S1 model will cost ₹ 99,999/- & S1 Pro will cost ₹ 1,29,999/-. But as per Subsidies provided by Govt. Of India, in selected states, price will be lower than standard one as follows.
Ola Scooters will be available for purchase form 8th Sept 2021, deliveries will begin from October 2021 onwards.
Summary
Overall, offering from Ola Electric with the best in class S1 and S1 Pro Electric Scooters looks promising. We need to wait for our own scooter to try and experience the revolution.
