Ola Electric will focus on customer safety: Bhavish Aggarwal
The statement comes after a number of users took to social media to report that their Ola Electric vehicles have caught on fire.
Ola Electric’s Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said the company will focus on the safety of its customers.
The company has come under scrutiny after a series of fire incidents involving its scooters in recent times. A video that went viral last October showed one of its scooters catching fire outside its showroom.
Meanwhile, according to reports, there have been instances of similar fires happening in Pune and Kerala.
However, Aggarwal said the incidents surrounding the company’s products weren’t many, and the noise surrounding them has been more than the incidents themselves.
Speaking at the launch of the company’s S1 Gen 3 scooters, Aggarwal said, “Many people fan the fire, pun intended.”
But, irrespective of the number of cases reported, the company will focus on the safety of its customers, he said.
Addressing other issues
The company has also been facing issues with after-sales service.
In September, a man was arrested in Karnataka for allegedly setting fire to an Ola Electric showroom due to dissatisfaction with the after-sale servicing of his newly purchased e-scooter.
Amid the rising number of consumer complaints, the company says it has taken measures to address backlog and service concerns.
Aggarwal said Ola Electric has solved almost all issues related to service and service backlog.
“And you can see that (improvement) in the market share now. Consumer sentiment is back strongly with us. Consumer interest in our products is back,” he added.
The company opened 3200 stores in December to expand its retail footprint across the country. All these centres will be co-located with service centres.
These measures have helped the company retake its market leader position in January—a position it had lost to Bajaj Auto in December.
Ola Electric sold 22,656 units in January, according to Vahan data, capturing a 25% market share amid rising competition from legacy brands including Bajaj and TVS Motors.
Improvements to hardware and software
Ola Electric's new line of scooters come with the company’s Bharat 4680 cell and battery pack. These have better temperature thresholds compared to the previous battery packs which were imported, said the company.
Additionally, the company said it has made significant improvements to its hardware design and upgraded its software based on the data it has received on its products, especially relating to the vehicles' thermal management.
“All of this is a continuous process of improvement on the engineering,” Aggarwal said.
(Disclaimer: Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, is an independent director in Ola Electric)