Ola Electric

With a lower price tag, Ola sub Rs 80K scooter is likely to get fewer features in contrast with Ola S1 electric scooterImage For ReferenceOla Electric is one of the highest-selling premium e-scooters. India being one of the largest 2W markets in the world, electric revolution has not taken a back seat at all. In fact, 2W EVs are ramping up at a constant pace. While Indian Government has a hand in that growth owing to the FAME II subsidies that nudged people towards EVs.Even though the Government has extended the FAME II Scheme till 31st March 2024, 2W EV manufacturers should take a step towards affordable products. With Hero Vida and Honda likely to come to this arena soon, competition will intensify considerably. Products that come out victorious are likely to be inexpensive ones.Ola Sub Rs 80K e-ScooterWith S1, which was launched on August 15th, Ola offered most of its flagship-worthy features with a Rs. 99,999 product. With ever-growing competition, Ola seems to announce a sub Rs. 80,000 electric scooter on Diwali.Ola CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, took to social media to announce the launch date – set for 22nd Oct. He expresses his excitement by saying that “Planned something BIG for our launch event this month!” He further stated that he “Will accelerate the #EndICEAge revolution by at least 2 years”.Our Diwali event will be on 22nd Oct. One of the biggest announcements ever from Ola. See you soon! pic.twitter.com/389ntUnsDe— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) October 8, 2022Ola is aiming to launch one of the most affordable premium electric scooters in the country. And the pricing for that electric scooter is likely to fall below Rs 80K. Aggarwal didn’t impart further details pertaining to this new “BIG” launch. Whatever it is, will take electric scooter sales further, according to Ola Electric.What To Expect?With lower cost, lower specs and lower features are immediately evident. Since this new product costs less than Ola S1 electric scooter, one can expect less features too. S1 already packs fewer features in contrast with S1 Pro. This upcoming product is likely to reflect a similar strategy and take on existing competition like Ather, Simple, Okinawa, TVS, Chetak and current segment leader Hero Electric and the likes, along with upcoming Hero Vida and Honda electric scooters.Ola S1 deliveries started from September 7th across the country. It packs a 3 kWh battery pack worth of juice. This is smaller than S1 Pro’s battery pack which has 4 kWh worth of juice in it. Even with a smaller battery Ola S1 promises 141 km of range from a single charge. Motor is the same as S1 Pro and is pretty much up there with other premium electric scooters.Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal AnnouncementOla sub Rs 80K electric scooter may get similar specifications as S1 or slightly lower, owing to its lower price tag. Ola will divulge further details at their event this month. But, speculations revolving around the product suggest similar specs as Ola S1, with fewer features along with it due to the lower price tag of Rs 80K. More

Ola S1 gets the same frame, body, design, most of its features, and other hardware as the pricier S1 ProOla S1 Electric ScooterOla has had one of the most successful electric scooter lineups. When we say lineups, we mean S1 and S1 pro electric scooters that were supposed to launch on 15th August last year. But when reality struck, Ola resorted to just launching S1 Pro and slating S1 for another date. Ola did this in an attempt to first sell its flagship feature-loaded product to create a baseline and to draw more customers.That another date came exactly a year after S1 Pro was launched in India and in yesterday’s event, S1 was launched. Due to rise in production costs, Ola S1 Pro now costs around Rs. 1.4 lakh depending upon the city and state government subsidies. So, a Rs. 1 lakh electric scooter was paramount for Ola as competition from Ather, TVS, Chetak and Simple Energy is intensifying by the day. Hence Ola S1 launched.Heck, even Honda is coming to this electric scooter segment with an Electric Activa. Honda’s entry into this segment will definitely disrupt it. Because of its battery swapping tech, Honda’s electric scooter would cost significantly less as batteries are rented and not owned. Also, the battery can be swapped to a fully charged one in a minute.Ola S1 Vs RivalsAt a passing glance, S1 is virtually indistinguishable from S1 Pro. But S1 Pro gets a large 3.9 kWh battery while S1 only makes do with a 3 kWh pack. The motor still makes the same 5.5 kW peak power and 58 Nm torque. But with the smaller battery, range is also reduced. S1 can now cover 141 km while S1 Pro is certified with 181 km. This is nothing when compared to up to 300 km on Simple One. Both iQube and 450X gen 3 offer around 140 km certified range while Chetak only gets 95 km.New Ola S1 Vs RivalsDespite the arrival of Simple One, both S1 and S1 Pro still make the highest continuous power of this comparo at 5,500W. Followed by TVS iQube rated at 4,400W and Chetak at 4,080W. In terms of rated power, Ather is middle of the road at 3,300W. When it comes to peak torque, though, Simple One absolutely decimates its rivals with 72 Nm. Followed by 58 Nm with both S1 and S1 Pro, 33 Nm of iQube, 26 Nm of 450X gen3 and lastly, we have Chetak with just 16 Nm.New Ola S1 Vs RivalsWhen it comes to flexing battery sizes, there’s no beating Simple One and iQube as both of their battery packs cross the 4 kWh mark. Simple One gets a 3.3 kWh fixed battery as well as an optional removable 1.5 kWh battery too taking the total capacity to 4.8 kWh. Top-spec iQube gets a fixed 4.56 kWh battery. Followed by S1 Pro with 3.9 kWh, 450X gen 3 with 3.7 kWh. While both Chetak and S1 get a 3 kWh battery pack.Speed & SpecsThe comparo doesn’t end there. Even though the Simple One has the most torque, it is not the fastest. That crown still goes to Ola S1 Pro which can touch 115 km/h. Then comes Simple One with 105 km/h followed by S1 with 90 km/h, iQube with 82 km/h, while both 450X gen3 and Chetak can touch 80 km/h.New Ola S1 Vs RivalsWhen we look at the weight, Chetak is the heaviest at 132 kg, followed by iQube with 128 kg, both Ola S1 and S1 Pro weigh around 125 kg and then comes 450X weighing at 111.6 kg and Simple One being the lightest at 110 kg. Of this bunch, Chetak seems to be the most uninspiring as it doesn’t get any gizmos that others get and also is lagging behind rivals in almost every aspect. Prices for EVs vary from city to city and state subsidies which vary across states. Visit the company’s websites for final pricing. More

Ola Move OS 3 is expected to launch around Diwali, on time, unlike Move OS 2.0 which saw multiple delaysOla Electric Scooter Move OS 3 Launch TeaserOla Electric continues to promise new features for their S1 Pro electric scooter. But the good news is that most of the promised features have been released, even though they took their own sweet time. This attribute induces trust and confidence towards this startup brand that is aiming big in little time. We say this because Ola is already promising an electric car. Yeah!Ola Electric has seen quite a few setbacks too. The fire hazard incident that took place in Pune, an S1 Pro customer set his electric scooter on fire because he claimed it was unusable and a few incidents where the front single-sided suspension fork broke. But in a world where the Takata airbag recall blunder exists that affected 7 crore vehicles worldwide with faulty airbags, Ola S1 Pro niggles are tiny.Ola Move OS 3 Launch TimelineOla Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal recently took to social media platforms to announce the Move OS 3.0 which is set to release for everyone. Not just select customers for pilot testing, everyone. That is a big promise. In that light, we can expect Move OS 3 pilot runs for select customers way before Diwali.What is Move OS 3? Good question. Ola S1 Pro electric scooter is a new gen scooter with advanced connectivity which enables OTA updates. These updates are similar to software updates we get on our mobiles and other computing devices. Ola software updates can alter vehicle parameters and also give feature additions.Ola Electric Scooter Move OS 3 Launch on Diwali 2022So, what can we expect from Move OS 3 over Move OS 2? Bhavish Aggarwal has promised some feature upgrades and additions that will add value to existing S1 Pro users in the way they interact with their electric scooter. Among many, some feature additions disclosed by Ola CEO are hill hold, proximity unlock, moods, regen v2, hyper charging, calling, and key sharing. Of these, he has teased the Moods feature of Ola Electric scooter Move OS 3 in the video below.What Is New?Hill hold helps users while starting on an incline where the scooter will not roll back. Proximity unlock is similar to request sensors we have on cars where the vehicle will detect that a key is near, in S1 Pro’s case, a phone. Moods might be swappable themes for the instrument console. While regen v2 refers to the new software that controls regenerative braking allowing finer control or changed regen intensity.Hypercharging can mean that Ola is now allowing more voltage or amperage, hence increasing the wattage of charging with this Move OS 3. This will reduce the charging time by some margin. Calling feature might introduce a digital keypad on the touchscreen instrument cluster or allow you to take calls from the scooter’s speakers directly or both, if that’s your jam (weirdly). Lastly, we have key sharing allowing other people to access an Ola scooter with temporary or permanent access with their phones instead of the user’s phone.Testing out the Moods feature in MoveOS 3.This one is for those who still have an ICE hangover! I’ll not take names ? pic.twitter.com/Z70eZpOcN8— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) July 17, 2022Looking at the timeframe Move OS 2 took to launch and multiple delays, we have split opinions on whether Ola Electric can pull off the Diwali timeframe for Move OS 3. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal lauds Ola Engineering for executing this software at this speed. This means software has already been compiled and will now be under testing. Speed is good. But with development and refinement of software and hardware, speed is a recipe for disaster.  More

At least two Ola S1 Pro electric scooter owners have claimed that they have achieved over 300 kms rangeOla Electric Scooter Range Record 300 KmsOla Electric has had a massive start with the launch of the S1 pro electric scooter. But as we saw with recent buying trends, Ola Electric is actually losing market share to competition. In June 2022, Ola Electric had a market share of 14.70% while trailing behind the likes of Okinawa, Ampere and Hero Electric, but not by a huge margin.Ola S1 Pro electric scooter delivers one of the highest range. Claimed range stands at about 180 kms. But there have been multiple instances where owners have managed to cross the 200 kms mark. Now, some owners are even claiming 300 kms range from a single charge.Ola S1 Pro 300 Km RangeAn Ola S1 Pro owner by the name Jigar Bharda has clocked a range of 303 km on a single charge which is a massive feat. Helping him achieve this is Ola S1 Pro’s large 3.97 kWh battery pack and a planned 303 km commute with 23 kph average speed and 40 kph top speed and the new Eco Mode unlocked with Move OS 2.0.When we divide the 303km range with 23 kph average speed, the owner took over 13 hours to finish it. At the end, the scooter was in a 6% state of charge with only 1 km range left as indicated by the instrument console. This test was done in Eco Mode which was added with the new Move OS 2.0.Ola Electric Scooter Range Record 300 KmsAnother Ola Electric Scooter owner has also claimed to have achieved 300+ kms range on a single charge. Satyendra Yadav shared a photo on Twitter, with 300 kms range and 5% battery left. He rode at an average speed of 20 kmph and managed top speed of 38 kmph in the run. We have seen Ola Electric awarding free S1 Pro to owners who crossed the 200km barrier. Wonder what Bhavish Aggarwal will award customers crossing 300 km. Two Ola S1 Pro? Or an upcoming Ola Car? Time will tell.Ola Electric Battery CellWith Ather taking a dig at Ola about how safe their EVs are and Simple Energy One on the corner, Ola has to do better to stay ahead of the competition. Developing their own battery cells was on Ola Electric’s roadmap. But since the S1 Pro is based on the Etergo Scooter, it retained the same battery too. To keep production costs in check for next-gen electric scooters and the upcoming Ola Electric car, Ola has come up with an in-house developed battery cell.This new battery cell was revealed by Ola Electric CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal on social media. He claims that it is their first indigenous Li-ion battery cell. Aggarwal also revealed that there is more to come in their cell technology roadmap too. This hints to us that an indigenous battery pack with an indigenous BMS along with a cooling system around this new cell is Ola Electric’s next big step.New Ola CellAggarwal didn’t reveal any technical specifications about this new battery cell though. It is not yet known whether it is an 18,650 cell or a 21,700 cell. Taking 21,700 as an example, 21mm is the diameter of the battery and 700mm is the length of the battery. Ola CEO also didn’t reveal the energy density, energy capacity, or battery chemistry either.From the looks of it, Ola Electric seems to be following Tesla Motor’s footsteps. Initially, Tesla licensed Panasonic 18,650 cells and while planning for Model 3, Tesla manufactured its own 21,700 cells for costs and manufacturing scaling. More

Ola S1 Pro commits to guaranteed delivery in 14 Days, and in some instances does so within 24 hoursOla Electric Scooter. Image – Yogesh LabdeA few recent tweets point to customers receiving the Ola S1 Pro in under a week, while awaiting the OS update to match pace. To this end, the company has already made an announcement that a number of customers will get their MoveOS 2 Beta starting on June 1, 2022. This is as per company plans following the opening of its 3rd purchase window.Some deliveries were made as quickly as 5 days from payment. And some in under 24 hours. Since launch, Ola has streamlined bookings for S1 Pro through specified booking windows announced by the company. The most recent was announced for May 21, 2022. The company had done the same back in March 2022.Prompt booking and deliveryTo ensure a seamless process, prospective buyers first make a booking for 499 bucks. To confirm a purchase, a payment of 20k is to be made when the purchase window opens. For those who make a timely reservation, further details are elaborated in an email.The delivery process for Ola Electric is new, and could be one that works brilliantly.  Instead of waiting to set up brick and mortar stores in city after city, Ola is opting for doorstep deliveries. For those keen on a test drive, one can select a time slot at one of the test locations in a particular city. And now, with an email commitment of delivery in 14 days, that’s pretty much all it takes. As is evident, customers needn’t even wait for two weeks. Prompt booking, and optimized manufacturing to meet ongoing demand continues to help Ola tweak ops.Probably the first time in the world, that people have gotten their vehicles delivered in under 24 hours from payment, that too fully registered. We’re loving the customer reactions to #DeliveryInHyperMode ? pic.twitter.com/XM3EY1YXWQ— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) May 24, 2022Ola sales growthThis is more than necessary. The electric scooter manufacturer has set itself competitive goals. Foremost is its quest to be on top of the sales chart. Currently this doesn’t seem a difficult task. Quite simply, while the electric scooter is moving forward in leaps and bounds, total segment volumes are still low.Ola has in quick time reached atop the sales chart having done better than Hero Electric and Okinawa last month. All three companies, and a few others are currently under immense public scrutiny owing to reported fire incidents. Hero Electric announced zero dispatches for April 2022 owing to the ongoing global chips shortage.Electric scooter segment growthWith a range of concerns clawing at the industry, it’s clear that the electric scooter segment does have teething issues. Concurrently, improved sales and demand point to improved buyer interest. The number of electric two wheelers available today continues to increase. This in turn gives buyers a real choice.Confidence in the electric scooter is evident from the price points they are available at. A growing number of electric scooters are already available at a higher price point than high-selling petrol scooters. Total two-wheeler segment sales in India surpasses 10 lakhs easily, each month. And total electric scooter sales are soon expected to be a sizeable contributor.  More