Ola's e-scooter rides into Indian market at ₹99,999 starting price

The Soft-Bank backed Ola launched its first-e-scooter in two variants at competitive prices on Independence Day.

The S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters are priced at ₹99,999 and ₹1.3 lakh respectively. The prices are ex-showroom and include FAME II subsidy but exclude state subsidy.

State subsidies will make the two electric scooters cheaper in regions like Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra, said auto experts. With the government’s recent announcement that EVs will not be charged road tax, the base Ola electric scooter could end up costing less than the likes of even the Honda Activa 125 on-road, said Autocar.

The deliveries of the models will begin from October.

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Media reports said that the Ola S1 has a top speed of 90 Kmph and it can reach 40 Kmph from zero in 3.6 seconds. Its range is 121 Km, with a peak motor power of 8.5 KW and has a 2.98 KWh battery pack and comes in five colours. The Ola S1 Pro meanwhile has a top speed of 115 Kmph and can hit the 40 Kmph mark from zero in just three seconds. The range of this variant is said to be 181 Km. It has a peak motor power of 8.5 KW with a 3.97 KWh battery pack and comes in 10 colours.

Both the electric scooters come with a number of modern features including in-built speakers, proximity sensors, app compatibility, and also a Hill Hold feature that prevents the vehicle from rolling back on slopes during riding.

A report in Business Standard pointed out that the scooter has an advanced HMI (human-machine interface) feature. Powered by a multi-microphone array and AI speech recognition algorithms built in-house, it comes with a customised 7-inch touchscreen display that allows the rider to customise modes, sounds and other settings.

The scooters also come with keyless and voice recognition features, and for security purposes, the vehicle includes an anti-theft alert system and geo-fencing.

The vehicle has been designed and perfected in-house. “All of this has been done by Indian teams based here in this office, and it’s world-leading,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman, and group CEO, Ola, during a roundtable at the Ola Electric campus in Bengaluru, added the Business Standard report. The scooters are being produced at a 43-acre facility that has an annual production capacity of 1 million and the company has already received more than a lakh booking after it opened for pre-orders.

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In India, Ola is will now compete with key electric two-wheeler players such as Hero Electric, Ather Energy and TVS Motor Company.

Ola is also setting up charging infrastructure to complete the ecosystem. Deccan Herald reported that Aggarwal said that they have taken spaces to roll out charging stations. The company will have enough charging stations in every relevant city by the time deliveries happen, he added.

About 5000 charging points in 100 cities is the company’s goal. “We have partnerships and they will get operationalised by the time deliveries start,” Aggarwal noted, said the DH report.

Aggarwal also spoke about electrication being the only sustainable solution to vehicular pollution. “Imagine the kind of vehicular pollution today. Imagine that multiplied by five in a decade. The only way out is to accelerate this electric journey that we are on. That is the kind of vision we started our journey at Ola Electric with. It is all about accelerating the journey to a sustainable electric future in mobility,” he said, quoted media reports.