Ola Electric scooters to soon hit the road, commits to all two-wheelers in India to be electric by 2025

Ola Electric has announced the launch and the pricing of its much awaited electric scooter - S1, with two variants S1 and S1 Pro. The scooters will be available for purchase from 8th September, and deliveries will begin in October. 

The company has already partnered with top banking partners to provide leasing for the two scooter variants. The team has also announced Mission Electric, where it commits to a future where all two-wheelers in India will be electric by 2025. 

The Ola S1 and Ola S1 pro have been priced at Rs 99,999 and Rs 1,29,000, respectively. The S1, priced at Rs 99,999, has a maximum speed of 90 KM per hour, and can reach 0 to 40 km in 3.6 seconds. The range is 121 kilometres on a full battery charge. It is present in five colours- white, sky blue, red, black, and yellow. The peak motor power is at 8.5 kw. 

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The Ola S1 pro, priced at Rs 1,29,000, has a maximum speed of 115 km per hour, and can reach 0 to 40 km in 3 seconds. The range is 181 kilometres on a full battery charge. It is available in 10 colours, and has the peak motor power at 8.5 kw.

Speaking about the scooters in a closed door press meet at the Ola office in Bengaluru, Bhavish Aggarwal said,

“We have completed the first phase of our factory launch, and have the capacity to produce over 2 million scooters in a year. We are proud of a product that has been designed, conceptualised, and manufactured in India. I have always believed that we have the best talent and capacity of building world class products from India for the world, and that is what the Ola S1 series is about.”

Apart from the cells, which are from Korea, most parts of the scooter is made in India. He explained that the vehicles have been built by the best engineering minds in the country. Ola had opened the early booking for its Ola Scooter at Rs 499. It recorded over one lakh bookings in a span of two days. The team added these numbers are still growing.

"We have seen bookings from close to 1000 cities across the country, and we will first start with the delivery of these vehicles," said Bhavish. The scooter works with an app that can allow for multiple user profiles, and each user profile can be customised according to their needs and requirements.

"The Ola S1 provides the best navigation experience on any vehicle. You can create unique profiles for family, friends and guests. Individually customisable, each profile can make the Ola S1 theirs for the ride. Your scooter will now sound just like the way you like, or go completely silent, if that’s more your vibe," said Bhavish.

He added that the team has ensured the battery is at the footboard of the vehicle at over 3.97 kw, to ensure a larger boot space. "We have gone against a swappable battery as that causes more wear-and-tear, and can create more challenges for the user," added Bhavish.

Personalised experience and tech

Bhavish explains that the S1 brings technology that is several generations ahead of anything on the market. It has no physical key, and pairs with your phone with its “digital key” feature. This enables it to know when you’re near it and unlock it automatically. It will also lock itself as you move away. It has a multi-microphone array, AI speech recognition algorithms built in-house, and one of the sharpest, brightest 7-inch touchscreen displays. 

"With our homegrown MoveOS, customers can not only alter the look & feel of the display but also how the scooter sounds. It will have four moods at launch - Bolt, Care, Vintage and Wonder, and will offer a customised vehicle sound experience that matches your mood of the day. It will also come with three driving modes - Normal, Sport and Hyper for you to personalise how you ride," added Bhavish

He adds that they have also introduced a lot of safety features which are rare in the two-wheeler segment. Ola S1 has an anti theft alert system, geo fencing, and a battery which is flame retardant and water and dust resistant. It also has front and rear disc brakes and ‘Hill Hold’ feature which makes riding in traffic and navigating inclines easy. 

"The 110/70 R12 tyres, rear mono-shock suspension and front single fork suspension leads to much superior road grip and riding experience. It has a cruise mode that makes riding comfortable and convenient, and a reverse mode that makes it easy to park and exit tight spaces," said Bhavish.  

The scooters also come with voice recognition that enables you to complete your key tasks quickly without having to bother with navigating the menu.

While the shortage of chips have been a problem due to the global semi conductor chip shortage, Bhavish added, while this is a challenge for the next six to nine months, the team is currently managing the shortage.

The company added that Ola Scooter has already won several prestigious awards, including the IHS Markit Innovation Award at CES and the German Design Award. 

The first in the range of Ola electric two-wheelers, the Ola Scooter will roll out from the Ola Futurefactory — the world’s largest, most advanced, and sustainable two-wheeler factory built on a 500-acre site in Tamil Nadu, India.