While Ola Electric, a manufacturer of battery-powered scooters, is struggling to deal with an increasing number of service complaints from consumers, the company has decided to form a new support team.
As a result of the approximately 80,000 complaints that the Bengaluru-based company has been receiving each month, the company’s service centers are having a difficult time keeping up with the volume of complaints. According to a media report, there are days when the number of clients reaches a peak of 6,000 to 7,000 per day, which results in lengthy delays, leaves service staff feeling stressed out, and makes customers frustrated.
In order to tighten its focus on its service operations, the manufacturer of the S1 line of electric scooters has assembled a new team, which includes employees from the product and operations divisions, amongst others.
Sales of Ola Scooter Deteriorating
The problem of service delays that Ola Electric is experiencing corresponds with a decrease in sales. It saw its lowest monthly sales of the year in August, selling 27,506 units, which is a 34% decrease from July’s total. Additionally, its market share dropped from 39% to 31% during this month. In the market for electric two-wheelers, competitors Bajaj Auto Ltd. and TVS Motor Company Ltd. continue to maintain their levels of stability.
Based on the information provided on the company’s website, Ola Electric has successfully sold more than 6.8 lakh electric scooters since its beginning. Additionally, the company has 430 service stations throughout the country.
Lack of Personnel and Resources
Numerous users have referred to the Ola electric service station as a “graveyard of scooters” due to the fact that the entire area is cluttered with about 500 to 600 scooters that have broken down. A group of four technicians is having trouble keeping up with repairs that require a crew of ten, according to a story that was published in the media.
As a result of the removal of the authorised service board from the centre, consumers are left wondering when or if their vehicles would be repaired. After the company closed a service centre in New Delhi, the situation became much more dire, and some customers from that area have even gone so far as to approach the authorities after waiting for repairs for more than six weeks.
Ola’s Market Report
Ola Electric’s recent market share loss was identified as a “risk” for the company by the broking firm HSBC last week, and the company’s sales volume predictions for FY25-26 were reduced by 15-20% following the announcement. The shares of the corporation, on the other hand, experienced a 10% increase and reached the upper circuit on September 17th, following the introduction of coverage on the stock by Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. By placing their bets on the company’s market leadership and efforts to vertically integrate, the brokerages forecast an upside of between 35 and 50 percent.
In a research published on September 17, Bank of America stated that electric two-wheeler adoption in India is at “an important inflexion on EV curve” due to the fact that e-scooters are currently priced lower than petrol scooters. The report cited Ola as the largest electric two-wheeler company in India, which holds a share of approximately 40%. Bank feels that Ola has sorted out essential pieces of the electric vehicle puzzle, despite the fact that it is a new entrant. These critical pieces include a proven and expanding product range (not just a concept), decent financial availability, brand and distribution reach, research and development/technology focus, and a big addressable market, according to the report.
To participate in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) programme for vehicles and auto parts, Ola Electric’s S1 X escooter models (3 kWh and 4 kWh) have earned the domestic value addition certification (DVA).
According to a media report, the business has announced that their escooters have achieved the 50% localisation requirement set by the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
The electric scooter manufacturer that went public earlier this month has already gotten DVA certification for its S1 air model in January and its S1 pro model in March.
Ola S1 Pro supposedly makes the most money for the company. Certification is granted by the Automative Research Association of India (ARAI).
Incentives under the PLI Scheme can be claimed by Ola for a maximum of five consecutive years beginning in the fiscal year 2024. The percentage of product sales that goes towards incentives will range from thirteen percent to eighteen percent.
How This Development Will Help in Further Expansion?
According to a representative for Ola, who was quoted in a media report, the scooters S1 X 3 kWh and S1 X 4 kWh collectively contribute to approximately half of the total revenue that Ola generates. According to him, the company will be able to further improve its bottom line now that the PLI has been implemented by the corporation.
In addition, the spokesperson stated that the fact that Ola has received PLI certification for both its luxury and mass-market goods is evidence of the company’s vertically integrated manufacturing strength. This success is a key step forward in the development of India’s electric vehicle vision.
Over the last week, Ola presented its electric motorcycle portfolio, which is referred to as “The Roadster series.”
Rebranding of Ola Cab
The rebranding of Ola Cabs to Ola Consumer was revealed by Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO of Ola, during the annual event known as “Sankalp,” which is held by the Ola group.
Rebranding will allow the company to provide a wide variety of consumer services, including eCommerce, financial services, ride-sharing services, and other similar offerings, according to the company’s statement.
During the fiscal year 24 (FY24), Ola Electric reported a net loss of INR 1,584.4 Cr, despite having an operational income of INR 5,009.8 Cr.
As of the June quarter of the fiscal year 25 (FY25), Ola Electric’s consolidated net loss increased to INR 347 crore, up from INR 267 crore. In the same quarter, the company’s operating revenue reached INR 1,644 crore, representing a year-on-year rise of 32%.
Ola Electric, headed by Bhavish Aggarwal, is speculated to conduct its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) as soon as the first two weeks of August.
An Indian electric two-wheeler supported by Japanese investor Softbank is reportedly aiming to raise $740 million through a mix of a new offering and an initial public offering (IPO), with a post-money valuation of $4.25 billion to $4.75 billion in mind, according to a media agency’s report.
SEBI’s Approval
Last month, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) gave Ola Electric the green light to launch its INR 7,250-crore initial public offering (IPO). On December 22, 2023, the IPO’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) was sent to SEBI.
An offer for sale (OFS) of INR 1,750 crore and a fresh issue of INR 5,500 crore are expected to be part of the IPO, bringing the total to INR 7,250 crore. According to the DRHP, 95.19 million OFS shares were going to be sold by current shareholders. With the combined sales of 47.89 million shares, initial investors such as AlphaWave, Alpine, DIG Investment, Matrix, and others will contribute to founder Bhavish Aggarwal‘s 47.3 million share projection.
The goal of the public offering for the Bengaluru-based company is to reach a valuation of $6 billion. The initial public offering (IPO) will allow Ola Electric to launch the Ola Gigafactory initiative, which will produce electric vehicles, batteries, and other components with a large-scale production capacity of 100 GWh.
How This Move Will Change the Dynamics of the EV Sector?
With the potential to attract more investments and promote innovation, Ola Electric’s IPO might be a game-changer for the Indian EV market. More money will come into the electric vehicle market in India after the IPO, which is expected to attract a lot of interest from investors both at home and abroad. Greater investment has the potential to speed up R&D, which could lead to better electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and technology.
The Indian EV market may see a rise in competition as a result of the IPO. Both long-standing businesses and young companies might step up their game to gain a larger slice of the market, which could lead to more innovation and cheaper prices for shoppers.
Pricing may become more affordable as a result of increased production-related benefits of scale and increased levels of competition. Because of this, a higher number of individuals would be able to explore electric scooters as a more accessible and practical alternative.
In recent years, India has witnessed a remarkable surge in startups achieving the prestigious “unicorn” status. These privately held startup companies, valued at over $1 billion, signify the vibrant growth of India’s startup ecosystem. While the United States and China lead globally in the number of unicorns, India has secured a spot in the top three countries, showcasing the rapid development of its startup landscape.
Several Indian startups have attained unicorn status unprecedentedly, earning the title of fastest unicorn. This growth can be attributed to factors such as increasing smartphone and internet penetration, urbanization, rising disposable incomes, and substantial funding opportunities supported by government initiatives like Startup India and Digital India.
This article analyzes some rapidly evolving Indian firms that have quickly earned association in the elite unicorn club. These fastest unicorns’ unique ideas have gained funding and validation from top global investors. They are also driving a revolution in India’s major industries.
Bhavish Aggarwal and Krishnamurthy Venugopala Tenneti
India’s Unicorn Companies – Krutrim
Launched in December 2023, Krutrim Ai Designs was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Krishnamurthy Venugopala Tenneti. Krutrim is a large language model (LLM) that comes in two versions: the base Krutrim model, which comprehends 22 Indian languages and can generate content in 10 languages, and the more advanced Krutrim Pro.
Developed entirely in India, Krutrim aims to align with Indian cultural nuances and cost structures to support the advancement of AI in the country. In a remarkable feat, Krutrim swiftly secured $50 million in funding, catapulting its valuation to an impressive $1 billion. This rapid ascent not only marks Krutrim as India’s first unicorn of 2024 but also positions it as the fastest startup in the country to achieve this milestone, accomplishing it within just one month of launching its large language model.
Mensa Brands is a technology-led investment platform that helps founders of digital-first brands grow their businesses using data, technology, and team expertise. It is an Indian startup that acquires direct-to-consumer brands and helps them scale within the home market and overseas. Mensa Brands currently houses 12 brands, 80% of which are run by women, and operate in three categories- apparel, beauty and personal care, and home.
Mensa became a unicorn, with a valuation of more than one billion dollars, just six months after it was founded. Ananth Narayanan launched it in May 2021; by November 2021, it was a unicorn. It raised $135 million in a Series B fundraising round headed by Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave Ventures, valued at $1.2 billion.
GlobalBees
Company
GlobalBees
Founded
2021
Founders
Nitin Agarwal and Supam Maheshwari
India’s Unicorn Companies – GlobalBees
GlobalBees, founded in 2021 by Nitin Agarwal and Supam Maheshwari, brings digitally native brands into its fold, spanning various categories like beauty, personal care, home and kitchen, food and nutrition, and sports and lifestyle. These brands typically generate revenue ranging from $1 million to $20 million. GlobalBees assists these firms in expanding their reach by partnering with them and facilitating sales through marketplaces and other channels, both within India and internationally.
In December 2021, GlobalBees achieved unicorn status after successfully raising $110 million in its Series B funding round. The round was spearheaded by Premji Invest, the investment firm led by Wipro’s Azim Premji, with participation from existing investors, including Steadview Capital, Lightspeed, SoftBank, and FirstCry. With this infusion of funds, GlobalBees aimed to strengthen its product portfolio, drive further innovation, enhance the customer experience, recruit top talent, and scale its operations.
Ola Electric is an electric vehicle (EV) company dedicated to shaping a brighter, safer, and more sustainable future. Its vision is to establish India as the global hub for EVs by fostering an ecosystem of innovative products, services, and technologies. Ola Electric offers the Ola S1 electric scooter in variants like the Ola S1 Air, Ola S1X, Ola S1, and S1 Pro.
The company’s manufacturing facility, sprawled across a 500-acre, fully automated complex in Pochampalli town, Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, is set to become the world’s largest two-wheeler factory. With an impressive annual production capacity of 10 million units, it aims to revolutionize the EV industry globally.
Ola Electric achieved unicorn status within just two years of its founding, having raised $250 million from SoftBank in a Series B funding round. This investment valued Ola Electric at over $1 billion, solidifying its position as a key player in the EV market. Additionally, Bhavish Aggarwal, the company’s founder, announced plans to establish the Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bangalore. This facility, considered Asia’s largest Cell R&D facility, signifies Ola Electric’s commitment to driving innovation and advancing EV technology.
Udaan
Company
Udaan
Founded
2016
Founders
Sujeet Kumar, Amod Malviya, and Vaibhav Gupta
India’s Unicorn Companies – Udaan
Udaan, established in late 2016 by former Flipkart executives Sujeet Kumar, Amod Malviya, and Vaibhav Gupta, is a unique B2B marketplace connecting manufacturers and wholesalers with retailers online. Unlike many startups, Udaan operates without a CEO by choice, setting it apart in the industry.
The platform simplifies the onboarding process for merchants, requiring minimal information, and provides effective catalog tools for product presentation. This creates a dynamic, two-way channel for trade, enhancing the overall user experience. Additionally, Udaan offers various services, such as credit financing and logistics, to facilitate connections between manufacturers and retailers. Notably, Udaan’s logistics service, Udaan Express, handles 65% of the company’s orders, further streamlining operations.
Recognized as one of the fastest companies to achieve unicorn status, Udaan attained this milestone in September 2018. This underscores its rapid growth and success within the B2B marketplace, solidifying its position as a leader in the industry.
On September 15th, 2021, Bengaluru-based Apna achieved unicorn status after securing $100 million in Series C funding led by Tiger Global, valuing the company at $1.1 billion. This remarkable milestone was reached just 21 months after its inception.
Apna provides a platform for job seekers to create profiles showcasing their skills, education, and work experience. Users can search for job opportunities, directly contact companies, schedule interviews, and ultimately secure employment. With India boasting over 300 million blue-collar workers, which is expected to rise annually by approximately 10%, platforms like Apna hold immense potential in this sector. Apna has a robust user base of 16 million individuals, with over 150,000 businesses utilizing the platform for recruitment. Impressively, apna facilitates more than 18 million job interviews every month, underscoring its significance in the Indian job market.
BharatPe is an Indian fintech firm formed in 2018. It offers a QR code-based payment solution software that enables offline businesses and shops to accept digital payments. It was created by Ashneer Grover and Shasvat Nakrani, both IIT Delhi alumni.
It enables retailers to accept payments from over 100 mobile apps with a single QR code that is automatically deposited to their bank account in real-time. The firm has experienced tremendous development, with a monthly transaction value of INR 1500 crores. It is the fourth largest player in the offline payments industry. It raised $370 million in a primary and secondary mix as part of a Series E investment round led by a new investor, New York-based Tiger Global Management. It propelled it to the list of Unicorn Companies.
Founded in 2014 by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, and Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy is an Indian online food delivery platform. The founders, despite facing setbacks in previous ventures, pooled their expertise from IIT/IIM backgrounds and startup experience to launch Swiggy. The surge in India’s urban population and the rise of nuclear families where both partners work have fueled the demand for FoodTech services like on-demand delivery, cloud kitchens, and restaurant discovery.
Swiggy distinguished itself by prioritizing logistics and operating its delivery fleet instead of relying on restaurants or third-party services. This strategic move provided a significant competitive edge. Recently, Swiggy joined India’s unicorn club after securing $210 million in funding led by DST and Naspers, valuing the company at $1.2 billion. The funds were utilized to expand its supply chain network, venture into new markets, and bolster its engineering and technology teams.
Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, and Piyush Shah
India’s Unicorn Companies – Swiggy
Glance is an Indian artificial intelligence-based software company that delivers personalized content directly to smartphone lock screens. Its mission is to transform mobile shopping through a unique creator-led commerce strategy, leveraging influencers and celebrities to promote products directly to users on their phone’s lock screen. Co-founded in 2019 by Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, and Piyush Shah, Glance operates as a subsidiary of InMobi.
In an impressive feat, Glance achieved unicorn status within just 20 months by securing $145 million in primary investment from Google and existing investor Mithril Capital. This substantial funding valued Glance at over $1 billion, cementing its status as one of India’s fastest-growing startups at the time.
Glance acquired Roposo, a short-form video platform, to further enhance its offerings to integrate vernacular video content into its platform. The funding was also directed towards strengthening AI capabilities across Glance and Roposo, expanding the technology team, launching new services, enhancing the brand, and facilitating global expansion.
FAQs
Which are the key sectors driving the emergence of fast-growing unicorns?
Key sectors driving the emergence of fast-growing unicorns include financial services, software-as-a-service (SaaS), logistics, transportation, and education technology.
When did Mensa Brands become a unicorn?
Mensa Brands became a unicorn, with a valuation of more than one billion dollars, just six months after it was founded. It raised $135 million in a Series B fundraising round headed by Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave Ventures, valued at $1.2 billion.
What is Apna?
Apna provides a platform for job seekers to create profiles showcasing their skills, education, and work experience. Users can search for job opportunities, directly contact companies, schedule interviews, and ultimately secure employment.
Which are rapidly evolving Indian unicorn firms?
Some rapidly evolving Indian firms that have quickly earned association in the elite unicorn club are as follows:
In a groundbreaking move, OLA Electric, the renowned electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, is gearing up for its much-anticipated Initial Public Offering (IPO). This milestone event is poised to make history, representing the first IPO by an automaker in India in over two decades. The last instance dates back to 2003 when Maruti Suzuki (then Maruti Udyog) embarked on a similar venture.
In a recent triumph, OLA Electric secured a substantial Rs 3,200 crore in October of this year, employing a strategic mix of equity and debt. The majority of this funding is dedicated to accelerating the establishment of an EV manufacturing unit and a cutting-edge battery facility within its gigafactory situated in Tamil Nadu. This gigafactory, set to commence operations in early 2024, holds immense significance in OLA Electric’s overarching mission to contribute to the environmental cause by spearheading the decarbonization of the transportation sector.
The impending IPO, aiming to raise a formidable $700 million, has the potential to value OLA Electric between an impressive $7 billion and $8 billion. This valuation marks a notable leap from previous funding rounds, triggering a wave of scrutiny from market experts who are expressing concerns about the rapid surge in valuation.
One key aspect under the microscope is the imperative for OLA Electric to chart a clear path to profitability and sustained growth. The company faces the challenge of justifying a substantial $2–3 billion increase in valuation within a remarkably short span of two months. As OLA Electric prepares to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the coming days, the anticipation is palpable.
Market analysts are scrutinizing the critical factors contributing to this surge in valuation. The company is under pressure to present a comprehensive view of its trajectory, outlining a strategic roadmap that not only ensures profitability but also underscores its commitment to sustainable growth in the burgeoning EV market.
This IPO holds immense significance not only for OLA Electric but also for the broader landscape of the Indian automotive industry. As the company navigates this pivotal moment, stakeholders, investors, and industry enthusiasts await insights into OLA Electric’s financial strategy, growth prospects, and its role in shaping the future of electric mobility in India. The success of this IPO could set a precedent and pave the way for further innovations and investments in the electric vehicle sector, contributing to the nation’s broader environmental goals.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of OLA Electric, unveiled ambitious plans during the company’s annual event on August 15 last year. The revelation included groundbreaking initiatives such as the development of a new indigenously produced lithium-ion battery, coupled with OLA’s visionary goal to position India as a global Electric Vehicle (EV) hub. This event also shed light on the eagerly awaited details of OLA’s upcoming electric car.
In the calendar year 2023 alone, OLA Electric achieved remarkable success by selling over 2.4 lakh vehicles, securing a substantial 35% market share. Looking ahead, the company is poised to further enhance its capabilities with the launch of a giga factory dedicated to lithium-ion cell manufacturing, scheduled to commence operations by February.
Financial Resilience and Stakeholder Structure
OLA Electric has exhibited financial resilience, demonstrating a noteworthy evolution in its gross margin. Progressing from a negative margin of -5.4% in FY22, the company achieved a positive 7.63% margin in FY23. As part of its strategic roadmap, OLA Electric aims to attain EBITDA profitability by FY25, targeting a commendable profit margin of 6.6%.
Bhavish Aggarwal commands a substantial 37% stake in the company. Other key stakeholders include industry giants like SoftBank at 23.6%, Tiger Global at 6.3%, ANI Technologies, OLA (each at 4.7%), Matrix Partners at 3.8%, and Alpha Wave Global at 3.6%.
Total Expenses of Ola Electric Mobility From Financial Year 2020 to 2022
Innovations Beyond Wheels: Krutrim AI and Future Prospects
Bhavish Aggarwal’s recent launch of Krutrim AI on December 15 positions OLA Electric at the forefront of innovation. Touted as India’s first full-stack AI, Krutrim AI emphasizes unique localization, supporting 20 Indian languages with over 2 trillion tokens. The model aspires to shape a culturally expressive future for India, driving an AI-first economy and challenging global paradigms.
Ambitious Targets and Market Dynamics
OLA Electric sets ambitious targets, planning to sell 9 lakh units in 2024-25 and further escalating to 2.3 million units in 2025-26, as per a Reuters report. These goals, although lower than earlier estimates, align with the evolving market dynamics and changing incentives.
OLA Electric’s strategic initiatives extend beyond two-wheelers, with plans to launch a giga factory for lithium-ion cells by February 2024. Additionally, the company contemplates introducing a 500km range electric car by late 2024, signaling its commitment to diversify its product portfolio. Notably, OLA is also in the testing phase for an autonomous vehicle, showcasing its commitment to cutting-edge technological advancements.
CEO Insights and the Sequential Roadmap
Bhavish Aggarwal’s grand vision for OLA Electric involves not just two-wheelers but an entire spectrum, including scooters, motorbikes, cars, and the fundamental cell platform. The sequential roadmap envisions the progression from scooters to motorbikes and eventually cars. Concurrently, the company remains focused on enhancing cell technology.
Aggarwal boldly stated that by the end of 2025, OLA Electric aims to make all two-wheelers in India electric. Acknowledging the ambitious nature of this goal, Aggarwal emphasized the need to develop the right products for India, ensuring cost-effectiveness and bringing supply chains into the country.
Navigating Challenges in a Competitive Landscape
While OLA Electric celebrates its successes, challenges loom on the horizon. Maintaining a market lead in the face of fierce competition from players like TVS, Bajaj, Hero, and Ather remains a critical objective. The company also grapples with the task of reducing losses post-subsidy reductions and addressing after-sales issues more effectively.
Strategic Delays and Market Expectations
To meet market expectations and justify its valuation, OLA Electric faces the challenge of demonstrating its ability to launch viable products across different segments. Recent hints from Aggarwal suggest a potential delay in the launch of OLA’s electric car until early 2025, aligning with the company’s strategic approach.
OLA Electric’s Dynamic Journey
OLA Electric’s journey is marked by innovation, strategic planning, and the pursuit of an ambitious vision. As the company navigates challenges and seeks to establish itself as a global EV hub, stakeholders, market analysts, and enthusiasts await the unfolding chapters in this dynamic narrative. The IPO, with its substantial valuation, sets the stage for OLA Electric’s continued growth and its pivotal role in shaping the future of electric mobility in India.
The world is evolving at a fast pace, right from climate change to pollution and everything in between — things are moving fast towards a more sustainable and economical future that is built upon the grounds of frugal innovation and so is India’s push towards sustainable use of resources and development.
The EV industry is on the verge of major leaps forward and this is when Ola & Bounce, two of the promising names in the sector are up for a ‘neck-to-neck’ tussle to the top. But who would actually be able to have the upper hand in building the future of automotive? Let’s find out.
Ola Electric — The Founder’s Ambitious Dream Ft. Mark Zuckerberg
No click baits. Bhavish Aggarwal & Mark Zuckerberg may be the two immensely popular CEOs with completely different products in two distant time zones, but they still have a striking similarity i.e., putting in their everything for a vision they have for themselves and the company.
What Mark Zuckerberg is doing with Meta is something that all of us already know, and Bhavish too — seems to be in that zone, where he thinks and believes that Ola’s future lies in the automotive sector and that is what the company wants to be known for, and not just another cab-hailing company.
In fact, when Ola Electric began in 2019 — many perceived it as a side gig for the cab-hailing unicorn, but the recent developments have pivoted Ola Electric as Ola’s flagship product.
From Urban Mobility to Everything Electric: Decoding the Functioning of Ola and the EV Dream
Ola Electric Tweet
Ola, which was among the first movers to launch last-mile mobility solutions in the country, grabbed eyeballs for all the right reasons. A track record where they were able to keep Uber on check to establish a duopoly in the last mile mobility landscape.
Thus, it was no surprise when the company announced its plans to expand into other verticals, but things changed. Out of all the categories, Bhavish and team vesting into the EV sector and that too with an in-house production unit came as a surprise to many.
But then, the reveal and the marketing on top of it successfully created that much-needed buzz in the automotive industry and among EV enthusiasts, who were eagerly waiting to discover what lay ahead.
Ola launched the S1 and the S1 Pro — two of their flagship electric two-wheelers that could cover the maximum distance of 180+ km on a single charge, a debatable claim that felt hard to achieve in real life. They were priced at a premium, significantly more than what their competition was charging for their EVs.
Ola was clear about its stance, and that was to position its offerings on the basis of quality and not price. With an exclusive invite-only system, Ola aimed at gaining enough momentum and buzz before a full-fledged launch.
However, the move didn’t reap enough rewards for the aggregator and it was more of a hit-and-miss. What followed was a pivot in the way the company went about its marketing endeavors. Ola went in with the pre-booking strategy, where users could book the vehicles for a token amount of ₹499, paying ₹20,000 on confirmation and the remaining at the time of delivery.
The small token for pre-booking went well with the customers, as they were a bit overwhelmed with the considerable price tag for the vehicle, despite all the features it comes with.
Reduce the premium price tag, that Ola deemed as ‘affordable’ and the company had cracked the code for a winning product that could redefine the company mission and scale in the times to come.
However, as we already mentioned — the high penetrating price was going to be an issue not because the price was too high — but because of the skeptical nature of the average Indian customer.
The users have expressed concerns about the EV industry overall, with a question mark upon the ability of EV manufacturers to get it right with their money and adhere to the safety norms.
Enters Bounce — A Fresh Twist in the EV Saga
First things first. Bounce was meant to be taken seriously, not because of the product but its sheer habit of solving complex problems differently, simplifying them for the end user.
Bounce started off as a bike sharing and self ‘PuDro’ mobility company Is known for this same appetite to solve mobility once and for all, by giving users the leverage to pick up and drop off their vehicle at the nearest bounce dockyards, at their own convenience.
The team and the idea of ‘Bounce’ were already bagging positive reception and that is when the company announced its focus on EVs and teased its first entry-level vehicle ‘Infinity’ for the daily commuter.
When a company that scaled to 100000 rides per day by just focusing on a couple of cities, announces something — we tend to get curious. Isn’t it? This was no different. Bounce’s announcement of the EV made one thing clear i.e V. Hallekere and the team have something cooking in their heads and the R & D labs.
Give Me the Liberty, and Take My Money — Understanding Bounce’s Strategy and the Indian Consumer
Bounce Battery Swapping Strategy
The founders were aware that they were competing with someone like Ola and Ather who have the luxury of a vast distribution network. Competing with them on the distribution front may not be a good idea and Bounce’s pricing for their entry-level scooter further justified their understanding of the Indian market.
Bounce’s entry-level scooter which is available at a price of ₹36,000 without the battery (apple folks crying in the corner) is about giving the liberty back to the customer, by giving them the option to pick what they want.
Bounce’s swappable battery feature across the network made the cost of owning a two-wheeler EV significantly cheaper, and the Bengaluru-based company surely deserves some brownie points for the move.
“The public transport in India is not like it is across the globe. For instance, there are 6,000 buses for over three million people in Bengaluru, alone. Public transport was thus overcrowded, and the number of people dependent on it was high. The biggest question is how you get these people to move,” Bounce’s Vivekananda H, Co-founder and CEO, tells YourStory.
The Pain — The One Who Solves It Faster, Wins
EV acceptance in India can’t be just dependent upon one or two companies. Rather, it has to be a combination of various factors, permutations, and combinations — and a lot of that has to do with the quality of the product and the price point.
For Ola, the pre-orders became a curse as they have failed to deliver upon orders and promised features, something that they have assured to fix in future updates.
The fire outbreaks in the vehicles, poorly built, and lack of safety — a lot of which is being deemed as the result of rushed manufacturing and cost cutting, can become deal breakers for customers who are looking to switch to a reliable EV.
Ola Fire Incidents
On the other hand, pricing and delivery are some of the major pain points that will determine the potential winner in the long run — as the price, distribution, and infrastructure still continue to be the biggest pain points when consumers look to switch to a new piece of technology.
Where Ola sells the EVs through its own app, Bounce has tied up with the homegrown marketplace, Flipkart to sell its EVs and make them accessible to customers. With the rise in fuel costs, impending recession, layoffs, and escalating inflation — affordability has become the need of the hour for customers.
However, this has also created chaos among the EV and OEM manufacturers as the ‘risk’ involved with the utility of a technology or an EV-like industry, await the tests of time and it is not something that the average Indian customer will be assured about, from day 01.
How companies can actually win it, is via a systematic funnel right from marketing to after-sales support. When customers switch to something new, they aren’t buying the product or the functionality — they are buying the hope and the change that it promises.
The graph shows the sales volume of electric two wheelers for the fiscal year 2016-2021
Conclusion
As they say, never judge the conclusion by the beginning — and rightly so, we feel that it is too early to decide upon a winner in the vastly interesting and highly competitive urban mobility landscape.
Companies like Ather, Bounce & Ola are constantly pushing their limits and redefining the way India perceives EVs, but then it is too early to say anything. When you take that giant leap forward, there are chances that you will stumble here and there, and you may fall too — but that is what startups are all about.
They’re not afraid to fall because they are not afraid to fail and that is what makes all the difference. Ola and Bounce are here to stay, but who’ll stay relevant in the long run? Well, that is the story for another ‘What if’!
FAQs
Who is the CEO of the Bounce?
Vivekananda Hallekere is the CEO of Bounce.
Which is the best EV scooter?
Some of the best EV scooters are Nami Burn-E 2 Max Electric Scooter, Dualtron Thunder Best Premium Electric Scooter, Kaabo Mantis Pro Best Electric Scooter, etc.
Do Bounce electric needs a license?
As per ARAI, any electric bike traveling at more than 25 kmph with motor power exceeding 250W needs a license for its use. And under the same criteria, Bounce electric also requires a license as it can travel much faster than 25 kmph.
Is Bounce an Indian company?
Yes, Bounce is an Indian company based in Bangalore, Karnataka.
Ola is a Bengaluru-based ride-sharing company that only a few people are ignorant of. Ever since Ola cabs became operational in all the major cities throughout India, it has become our go-to option. Along with the US-based Uber, Ola is one of the most dominating ride-sharing companies that offers the users a wide range of vehicles and renting options to choose from!
India’s leading mobility platform, Ola has been operating since 2010, when it was founded and has already streamlined its ride-booking and car renting service and its different modes throughout these years with a focus on its users to add to its growth.
Now, Ola has also chosen to empower sustainable development and therefore, came up with its unique concept of “e-scooters” or what we term as “electric scooters”. With Ankit Jain, Anand Shah, Bhavish Aggarwal, and Ankit Bhati as Co-founders, Ola Electric was founded in 2017 and is set to conquer the world with its unique electric vehicles. However, except for Bhavish Aggarwal, everyone else has stepped down from being Co-founders and has also exited the firm eventually. The Founder and CEO of Ola, is also the CEO of Ola Electric, along with being its Founder.
If you have already heard about them and are curious to learn everything about electric scooters, then you can keep this article handy because here we bring you all that you would like to know about these vehicles, including Ola electric scooter booking, Ola E-vehicle price, Ola Electric scooter price Bangalore, Ola Electric scooter range, Ola Electric scooter specifications, Ola charging scooter, Ola Electric scooter helmet and more.
Why Ola Electric Scooter is much like a “Revolution on two wheels”?
Yes, coming up with Ola electric scooters will certainly help people lose track of the rising costs of fossil fuels and all the morbid thoughts about the exhaustion of our fossil fuel reserves and their likes.
Ola electric is certainly a revolutionary idea and even its tagline says so. The tagline for Ola electric scooter says, “Ready or not, a revolution is coming” along with a motivating hashtag #JoinTheRevolution.
Here are the 3 key features that the Ola Electric scooter boasts of:
Big on Acceleration – The Ola electric scooters would be furnished with acceleration to envy and will allow the users to stay ahead on the road.
High on handling – Along with providing a remarkable acceleration, these bikes are also slick and promise exceptional handling on any surface.
Larger boot space – Ola Electric vehicles also come with a large boot space that is capable of storing two helmets and more important things you would need along the ride.
Ola Electric – Birth of the Entity
Ola has announced that its electricity-powered scooter manufacturing company would be different from its ride-sharing wing. They are two different lines of businesses under ANI Technologies where the former will continue to be a ride-hailing business whereas the latter would be associated with the manufacturing and selling of electric scooters.
Ola Electric Scooters – Built, Colour Variants, Specifications, and Charging
Ola has disclosed that their electric scooters will be made available in 2 versions – the Ola Series S – Ola S1, and the top-of-the-line Ola S1 Pro. The company has already launched S1 and S1 Pro scooters with prices starting from Rs 99,999 and Rs 1,29,999, respectively.
Ola electric acquired Etergo BV back in 2020 and announced that the Ola electric scooter is based on the Etergo Appscooter. The company has already adopted the platform of Etergo to be used in India in order to deliver better performance.
Etergo Appscooter
Looking at the Ola Electric scooter specifications, it is great to announce that the Ola electric scooters paces on 12-inch black alloy wheels. Talking about the design of the vehicles, they are clean and sleek in appearance and devoid of any other redundancies. The Ola e-scooters also feature a twin-pod LED headlamp that has an LED strip running around it.
Ola electric scooter
Furthermore, these also have single-sided telescopic front suspensions and their rear shock absorbers are mounted horizontally, with the disc brakes slotted front and in the rear. The pillion footpegs of the scooter fold flush into the bodywork of the vehicles, and at the back, there are chunky pillion grab handles, ending in clear-lens tail-lights.
These scooters are also claimed to be launched with the largest boot space ever, which are capable of accommodating two half-face helmets and still have space for packing in more.
Ola Electric Scooter boot space
As per the batteries, Ola bikes’ batteries are not swappable types. It will rather run on a standard charging system. The Ola S1 Pro charging time, when charged at home is 6 hours and 30 minutes, while the Ola S1 will be fully charged at home in about 4 hours and 48 minutes.
Ola electric scooter’s riding range for the S1 model is 121 km and for its S1 Pro model, it is around 181 km per charge. The latter also includes the Hyper Mode, which is not present in the former model. However, as per the reports in December 2021, the Ola S1 Pro will have a range of 135 km at full charge, which is the true range of these scooters. The earlier mentioned range by the mobility giant was clarified as the range of the E-scooters only on test conditions.
Ola’s electric scooters are reportedly equipped with a 7.0-inch TFT colour display that will feature in-built navigation, onboard diagnostics, and other infotainment functions, and will be powered by an Android operating system.
Matte black, matte pink, and matte sky blue were some of the colour options that were disclosed by Ola initially. However, currently, the S1 Pro model comes in 10 different colours, which are:
Midnight Blue
Matt Black
Millenial Pink
Liquid Silver
Anthracite Grey
Porcelain White
Neo Mint
Marshmallow
Jet Black
Coral Glam,
On the other hand, the S1 model of Ola Electric scooters comes in 5 colours – Porcelain White, Midnight Blue, Coral Glam, Jet Black, and Marshmallow.
The owners of Ola Electric vehicles will be able to charge their scooters using a standard 5A socket by using the portable 750 W charger that comes with the Ola Electric scooter. Furthermore, you can also charge it at one of its ‘Hypercharger’ charging stations. The company has already announced that it will make the stations live for charging scooters in over 100 cities initially, which will eventually cover over 400 cities.
The first Ola Electric Hypercharger was launched on October 25, 2021, ahead of the planned test drives of the Ola electric vehicles scheduled for November 10, 2021. The S1 test rides of the vehicles have already started, and have received an encouraging response from all across the country, as per the reports of November 20, 2021. Furthermore, after witnessing the overwhelming response that Ola S1 scooters have received, Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Ola, has decided to extend the test rides to over 1000 cities by December 15, 2021.
Amazed and proud to see the strong response to our S1 test rides! Thousands of you have tried & loved it! We’re now expanding test rides to 1000+ cities across India by Dec 15. This is the largest direct to consumer outreach in Indian automotive history! #JoinTheRevolutionpic.twitter.com/ErxXkflQzO
Ola Electric has invested in StoreDot and thereby partnered with the Israel-based company that works on batteries to develop them for drones and electric vehicles and replace the lithium-ion component in the batteries. With this partnership, Ola Electric plans to equip its EVs with extremely fast-charging batteries that will be charged from 0-100% in just 5 minutes. The EV giant also happens to eye towards foraying into the battery-making space in India soon. Here goes the latest tweet from Ola Chief on March 21, 2022, when he spoke on the same:
We’re investing big into future cell tech. Excited to announce a strategic partnership with StoreDot of Israel. Will be working together to soon bring to market and manufacture its pioneering extreme fast charging cell tech, capable of charging 0-100% in 5 mins in India. (1/2)
The electric vehicles of Ola are currently manufactured in its electric scooter factory in Tamil Nadu, which has a capacity of producing 2 million vehicles annually and the numbers will rise to 10 million by the end of 2022.
Yes, Ola Electric is in process of building its factory, OLA FutureFactory in Tamil Nadu, which will cover an area of around 500 acres. Having 100 acres of forest cover, 2 acres of forest inside, and with negative carbon footprint, Ola FutureFactory is hailed as the world’s most sustainable two-wheeler factory.
The Ola factory boasts a production capacity of 10 million units per year and will operate with the help of over 3000+ AI-powered robots that will have precision robot welding, an advanced automotive paint shop, 100% in-house battery manufacturing, and more. The FutureFactory of Ola will assemble 25000+ motors per day, which will make it the world’s most advanced two-wheeler factory.
The Ola FutureFactory that is set up at Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, is believed to be the world’s largest 2-wheeler factory that is planned with the facilities to roll out 1 vehicle every 2 seconds. Phase 1 of the plant is nearly complete. The FutureFactory of Ola celebrated 1 year of its production facility on February 10, 2022.
Exactly a year ago we bought the Futurefactory land and did bhumi pujan. Yesterday we celebrated the foundation day with 2000 women.
Saluting the Girl power at the Futurefactory who showed what it takes to start a revolution. Inspired by their energy and enthusiasm! pic.twitter.com/o9CtkiP4ew
One of the most unique aspects of this FutureFactory is that the Ola factory’s workforce only consists of women, which is the first of such initiatives in the history of Indian automobiles. When it celebrated its 1 year of existence, the Ola FutureFactory had 2000+ women employed, which has a capacity of employing 10,000+ women. This initiative of Ola furthers the possibilities for women leading industries by a step.
Ola might install a solar rooftop to power its factory and cut down on the electricity bills.
What is the price of Ola Electric Scooters?
The website of the Indian multinational ride-sharing company initially declared that the Ola e-scooters would be competitively priced. According to sources close to Ola, these scooters were expected to be priced around Rs 1 lakh mark.
The prices, as unveiled, later on, are tagged at Rs 99,999 and 1,29,999 for S1 and S1 Pro models respectively. At this price segment, these vehicles will compete with the likes of the Bajaj e-Chetak, Ather 450X, and TVS iQube.
Here’s looking at the current prices as per the Ola Electric website:
Ex Showroom Prices in India
Ola S1
Ola S1 Pro
Gujarat
INR 79,999
INR 1,09,999
Delhi
INR 85, 099
INR 1,10,149
Rajasthan
INR 89,968
INR 1,19,138
Maharashtra
INR 94,999
INR 1,24,999
Other Indian States
INR 99,999
INR 1,29,999
Now, as we see, the Ola E vehicle price varies from state to state where Gujarat is apparently having them at the least available ex-showroom prices. Apart from the mentioned states, all other states like Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and more will have their Ola vehicles with starting prices of INR 99,999. Now, if you are looking for Ola electric scooter price in Bangalore, then it would also be starting from INR 99,999.
If you are eager to learn about OLA Electric bike booking and purchase one of such vehicles, then you don’t have to worry anymore because here are some easy steps that will help you with the Ola scooter booking without any hassles. Here’s answering “how to book an OLA scooter online?” with some easy-to-follow steps:
First, you need to visit the official website of Ola electric: www.olaelectric.com and then click/tap on the ‘Reserve for Rs 499’ button, which appears at the top-right corner of your screen.
Now, you need to enter your mobile number, click on the captcha verification box to verify the same, and then click/tap on the Next option.
You will then receive an OTP on your mobile number, which you will need to type in and then click/tap on the Next option.
Then you will get a dialogue box that says ‘Total Payable – Rs 499’ and will offer 3 payment options – Debit/Credit card, UPI, and Netbanking.
After that, you need to choose your preferred payment option, after which you will be redirected to the payment gateway.
After making the payment you will see the final screen, which will confirm your Ola booking by saying “Congrats, you are now part of the revolution.”
As soon as you have completed making the payment, you will receive the order ID and other details via SMS or email to the mobile number and the email address provided.
Ola Electric – Founders and Team
Ola Electric had earlier listed Ankit Jain, Anand Shah, Bhavish Aggarwal, and Ankit Bhati as Founders, but later on, everyone else left the company, making Bhavish Aggarwal, the sole Founder of the company, as of May 12, 2022. Anand Shah was the first founder to leave the company, Ola Electric in 2019. This resignation was followed by Ankit Jain, one of the closest confidantes of Bhavish. Jain left the company in August 2020. Ankit Bhati also left the company in 2020.
Bhavish Aggarwal
Bhavish Aggarwal – Founder and CEO of Ola Electric
Bhavish Aggarwal is the brain behind Ola Electric and Ola, who founded Ola Electric with the other founders. The Co-founder and CEO of Ola and Ola Electric is a B.Tech engineer from IIT Bombay and has been a Research Intern and an Assistant Researcher at Microsoft before he founded Ola.
Ola has already roped in Wayne Burgess, a Jaguar design veteran who also served as the Design Director of Jaguar Production and SVO Vehicles, and plans to make their vehicles big on design, bringing in the global appeal to the vehicles.
Wayne Burgess
Besides, Ola is also planning to launch an indigenously built car in order to foray into the electric four-wheeler industry, which will also get a major boost in its design with Burgess leading their team as the VP of Design. The Ola electric cars are expected to be launched in the next 2-3 years and would be produced in a new Ola 4W factory, which will be a new factory that is yet to be built. The Ola Electric Futurefactory would only stay for 2-wheelers. According to the latest update by Ola chief Bhavish Aggarwal, the Ola electric 4-wheeler would be the sportiest car ever built in India. The 4W factory of Ola would need an additional 1,000 acres of land for its 4-wheeler factory and its proposed gigafactory, which will manufacture cells for both its 2-wheelers and 4-wheeler vehicles.
Funding received by Ola Electric Mobility
Ola Electric Mobility, the subsidiary of Ola responsible for manufacturing Ola Electric scooters, has raised a total funding of $1.5 billion to date over 12 funding rounds and is powered by 21 investors in total. The last Ola Electric funding round was raised on October, 26, 2023 when the company raised $240 million.
The lead investors of Ola Electric Mobility include big names like Softbank, Tata Sons Private Limited, Matrix Partners India, Tiger Global Management, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors, and more.
Here’s a glimpse into all the prominent funding rounds that OLA Electric has seen so far:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
October 26, 2023
Debt Financing
$240 million
State Bank of India
September 7, 2023
Venture Round
$140 miilion
Temasek Holdings
May 22, 2023
Private equity Round
$300 million
–
January 24, 2022
Venture Round
$200 mn
Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, Edelweiss, and others
December 8, 2021
Series C
$53 mn
Temasek Holdings
September 30, 2021
Series C
$200 mn
Alpha Wave Global, Softbank
July 12, 2021
Debt Financing
$100 mn
Bank of Baroda
March 12, 2020
Series B
$1 mn
Pawan Munjal Family Trust
September 16, 2019
Corporate Round
–
Kia Motors, Hyundai Motor Company
July 2, 2019
Series B
$250 mn
Softbank
May 6, 2019
Series A
–
Tata Sons
March 1, 2019
Series A
$53.58 mn
Matrix Partners India, Tiger Global Management
Ola ELectric – Growth
Ola Electric, which started taking bookings in July 2021, has already begun achieving some memorable milestones. Some of them can be summed up as:
Ola Electric has clocked sales worth Rs 1100 crore in just 2 days
It was hailed as the best-selling electric 2-wheeler after Hero Electric in March 2022, when it clocked the sale of 9000+ units.
With over 12689 units of Ola Electric scooters sold in April 2022, Ola Electric was recognised as the highest-selling electric two-wheeler company in India.
Ola has sold 41,024 units in 2022, as reported on June 25, 2022.
Ola Electric New Product
Ola Electric is up for a new product launch on the Independence Day of 2022. There are speculations that this new product is an Ola Electric car. It is on the 15th of August 2021 that the EV manufacturers launched the S1-series of electric scooters. So, we need to keep an eye on that for sure!
Here’s what the Ola chief tweeted with regards to the same:
Super excited to announce a new product this 15th August!
The Independence day launch of Ola Electric would be another Ola Electric scooter, at least as per the trailer that Bhavish launched on Twitter on August 7, 2022. The trailer had a scooter just like Ola S1 Pro, carved out as a silhouette, where he mentioned the “greenest scooter just got greener”.
On 15th August, we’ll be revealing the greenest EV we’ve made! Any guesses? 🇮🇳 😉 pic.twitter.com/aMFxToOSTo
Though there are only subtle mentions of the new launch, the Ola product might be an updated version of the S1 Pro model, or it might be an updated colour of the same. Besides, it might also be an affordable version of the Ola scooters. The launch event of the company will be livestreamed by Ola on the Independence Day.
Ola Electric Scooter Sales
After witnessing a noticeable decline in the number of registrations of EV companies MoM, in April and May, the registrations for EVs rose slightly in June 2022, which increased by 6.8% MoM. The situations or growth stories for big companies like Pure EV, Okinawa, and Ola Electric are a little different though. Ola Electric witnessed a 27.3% decline in May, and then again witnessed a 36.5% decline in June, the registration of which counted to 5874 units. This also resulted in Ola losing out its last month’s second position to Hero Electric, whose registration figures, after witnessing a decline over the last 2 months, sprung back again in June, rising by over 128% MoM. Entities like Ather, Ampere, and Revolt, all witnessed a rise in their vehicle registrations in June 2022 unlike Ola, as of July 2, 2022.
Ola, which peaked in its registrations by registering 12,705 units in April 2022, witnessed a prominent downfall, where the Ola Electric sales fell over one-third, to register 3856 units in July 2022.
Manufacturing Batteries
Ola Electric declared that it would be manufacturing batteries for its scooters, which is why it is in talks with numerous global suppliers to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in India. The battery manufacturing plant will have a capacity of up to 50 gigawatts (GwH) hours, as per reports dated June 8, 2022. The manufacturing expenses of such a plant will be around $1 bn. The capacity of the battery manufacturing plant might initially be 1 Gwh, which would eventually be further upgraded. Suppliers from Korea, Japan, Germany, and other countries might serve as the suppliers of Ola Electric. As per calculations, Ola Electric would be needing 40 GWh of battery capacity to successfully power 10 mn. The company has received incentives along with a few other companies, under the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme, where the Indian government announced the investment of around $2.4 bn worth of funds. This government of India scheme aims to boost the local manufacturing of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries.
The EV manufacturers revealed the first indigenously manufactured Li-ion cell, NMC 2170 on July 13, 2022. This cell is completely manufactured in-house, the mass-production of which is expected to begin in 2023 at its upcoming Gigafactory.
Ola developed the country’s first indigenously developed Li-ion cell, NMC 2170
Ola Electric announced on July 18, 2022, that it will invest $500 mn in its Battery Innovation Centre (BIC), which will be set up in Bengaluru. The BIC will serve as an R&D facility for electric vehicle battery cells. However, the electric vehicle manufacturing company hasn’t disclosed the funding round, and whether it will pour money by itself or depend on external funds.
The MoveOS 3 Firmware Update for Ola S1 and S1 Pro Revealed
The Ola S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters would be receiving the Move OS3 software. It is still being put together, as revealed by the automaker company on July 16, 2022, and would likely be released on October 24, 2022, during Diwali. This new firmware update would equip the scooters with advanced features like Hill hold, proximity unlock, moods, regen v2, hyper charging, calling, key sharing, and more.
Pre-Sale Bookings and Sales Records for the Ola Electric Scooters
Ola opened the option for pre-booking their customers on July 15, 2021. Therefore, everyone who was eager to buy the much-awaited e-scooters, and wanted to stay ahead of their peers could pay a refundable deposit amount of Rs 499.
Ola electric vehicles have witnessed pre-bookings of more than 1 lakh vehicles, as reported on July 17, 2021, the numbers of which increased each second.
The purchase for Ola electric bikes was geared to start from September 8, 2021, and the brand was set to kick start the delivery of the products from October 2021, as of the website status on August 2021. The brand also mentioned then that the purchase of the S1 Pro vehicles will be starting from September 8, 2021, and the Ola scooter delivery will tentatively begin from October 2021 onwards. The booking for Ola S1 and S1 Pro had already started back then and you can also find it live on their website as well as the Ola app even today.
However, Ola S1 scooters couldn’t be bought on the mentioned date due to technical glitches in the developer’s end of the website that failed to make it up and running. The website that would be a one-stop solution for digital purchases, which would also guide the customers with a fully digital loan process without any paperwork, wasn’t live on September 8, 2021. Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal apologized on Twitter for the frustrating experience the customers had to go through and postponed the purchase date to September 15, 8 am. He further reassured that the reservation of the customers in the purchase queue will remain unchanged.
The purchase of the Ola e-scooters went live on the mentioned date, September 15, 2021, at the end of which it was declared by Bhavish Aggarwal that Ola Electric sold 4 scooters/second, which resulted in the sale of scooters worth Rs 600 crores+ in a single day. The total sale of Day 2 was even better as goes the Twitter post of the Co-founder of Ola Cabs, Bhavish Aggarwal:
Day 2 of EV era was even better than Day 1! Crossed ₹1100Cr in sales in 2 days! Purchase window will reopen on Nov 1 so reserve now if you haven’t already.
Ola is also looking to transport their electric scooters to the US by early 2022 as part of its international trade. The CEO of the company, Bhavish Aggarwal has mentioned,
“Yes soon! We will be shipping to the US by early next year,”
in a reply to Vivek Wadhwa, a US-based entrepreneur on Twitter, who earlier referred to the Ola Electric scooters as “the Tesla of Scooters,” further adding, “would love to get one here in Silicon Valley.“
Ola, however, had to postpone the deliveries of the e-vehicles from the month of October to November 2021 due to a global semiconductor shortage. However, the delay has further extended, as per the reports dated November 22, 2021, where the company has decided to defer the first batch of deliveries of its e-scooters to December 15 – 30, 2021, which was earlier expected to happen between October 25 – November 25, 2021.
Ola Electric – IPO
In order to be ready for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), Ola Electric has changed its status to that of a publicly traded corporation. Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited was the company’s previous name and now Ola Electric Mobility Limited before it underwent a corporate restructure in order to reach this noteworthy milestone.
Ola Electric – Partnership
Reliance General Insurance, a private general insurance business, announced a partnership with OLA Electric to offer an Extended Warranty Product in September, 2023.
Ola Electric – Acquisitions
Ola Electric has acquired 1 company to date that goes by the name Etergo.
Name of the Company Acquired
Date of Acquisition
Deal Value
Etergo
May 27, 2020
–
Ola Electric – Investments
Ola Electric has invested in StoreDot, a Tel Aviv-based battery innovating and developing startup that aims to replace the lithium-ion component on the batteries.
Name of the Company
Date of Investment
Funding Round
Lead Investor
StoreDot
March 21, 2022
Corporate Round
Yes
Ola Electric – Challenges
Aiming to transform the types of vehicles and the fuel that fuels them is itself a huge challenge that Ola has embraced with its e-scooters. Ola Electric has also faced many other challenges in its path of making EVs popular, and one of the major challenges is the fire incidents that the vehicle manufacturing company has seen in March 2022. Here are some of the prominent challenges faced by the EV giant so far:
Ola Electric Production Suspended in Tamil Nadu Futurefactory
Ola Electric has paused its production at Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri plant, as of July 30, 2022, for nearly a week. It has piled up 4000+ units at the same factory. Though an ET news previously reported that the company has decided to shut down the factory, an OLA Electric spokesperson refuted the reports, and stated that like all factories need annual maintenance, the Ola Futurefactory did too!
Ola’s Change of Payment Model Reduces Sales
Ola Electric initially used to set multiple payment windows for the customers, which opened on 4 specific dates and helped them pay in 4 instalments. However, on May 28, 2022, the Electric vehicle manufacturer changed that payment model to a one-time full payment model, where the customers will have to pay for their vehicles in full on a single occasion. This change has been impacting Ola Electric sales ever since. In the past 2 weeks, Ola has sold only 130-200 units, as per news dated June 25, 2022. Though this model is allowing the company to offer INR 10,000 discounts to its employees, the total vehicle sales were down by 27.3% MoM in May to 9230 units. The total vehicle sale of Ola stood at 41,024 units on June 25, 2022, so far in 2022.
Fire Incident in Pune
An Ola Electric vehicle set itself on fire in Pune in March 2022. This caused widespread fear and anxiety among all and has also led the company to recall 1441 bikes in order to diagnose them and check their overall health including their batteries, thermal, and safety systems.
Guwahati Accident
Amid the fire incident woes, Ola Electric has faced another criticism involving the son of Balwant Singh, a Twitter user, who alleged that he bought an Ola S1 Pro for his son, which met with an accident on March 26, 2022. This accident, he alleged, was due to a fault in the regenerative braking system. However, Ola Electric, in response to this, posted the telemetry data to prove that there were no issues with their scooter and that the accident was purely due to overspeeding and panic-braking. It also revealed the telemetry data in the form of an official statement on its Twitter handle.
As soon as Ola Electric posted the detailed telemetry report along with relevant graphs, proving that the son of Balwant Singh was overspeeding, and met with an accident, Ola Electric started facing huge backlashes for tracking customer data and publicising the same without the consent of the customers. This led Balwant Singh immediately mail Ola Electric and its authority to take down the personal telemetry data of Balwant’s son that was shared. Any further action taken by Ola was not known, but the fact whether the telemetry data can be considered as a customer’s own private data is debatable truly.
Balwant Singh’s son’s case was shot into the spotlight once again on May 12, 2022, when, as per the reports, Ola Electric responded to Singh, asking him to delete the negative reviews on social media within 24 hours or else, he would be facing legal action. The company’s response was backed by its earlier claim that it hasn’t breached data privacy.
Ola Electric Resignations
Ola witnessed another top-profile resignation on May 8, 2022. After Arun Sirdeshmukh, the CEO of Ola Cars, Dinesh Radhakrishnan is the next person to follow. Radhakrishnan was the CTO of Ola Electric who handled critical engineering functions of the company.
Ola Electric – Marketing, Brand Ambassadors and More
Ola Electric has already been a grand pre-booking success and is innovating its marketing strategies to attract the present generation of customers. The company is targeting all the available forms of media including traditional media, print media, and online media to empower the Ola scooter marketing strategy. The company has already roped in Bhuvan Bam, singer, songwriter, actor, and one of the most popular YouTubers of India, famous for his Youtube “BB ki Vines,” as its brand ambassador to hook in the young generation of buyers.
Bhuvan Bam was hired on August 27, 2021, on a contractual basis, the agreement of which declares that the popular Youtube personality would collaborate with the electric scooter manufacturers to create entertaining and eccentric content revolving around the new-age Ola Electric scooters.
Bhuvan Bam seemed thrilled to be an Ola Electric brand ambassador and said,
“I am really happy that Ola Electric considered me as one of their ambassadors. It’s truly exciting to be a part of this green revolution, something I’ve always wished for. The scooters are sleek, attractive, and are designed as per the Indian electric vehicle market. I have joined the green revolution already and I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on it.”
Ola Electric – Future Plans
Ola Electric has plans to launch its electric car in 2024. Ola Electric is currently looking to establish its battery manufacturing plant in India that will have a capacity of 50-gigawatt hours. Furthermore, along with that, the electric two-wheeler manufacturing company will also be investing in advanced cell and battery manufacturing.
FAQs
How much does Ola electric scooter cost?
The Ola electric scooter has 2 models –
Ola S1 is priced at Rs 99,999.
Ola S1 Pro is priced at Rs 1,29,999.
The Ola e-vehicle prices, as mentioned above, are for all other states excluding Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, where people will find the Ola Electric bikes even cheaper.
What is the Ola S1 Pro boot space?
Talking about the Ola S1 Pro boot space, it is safe to conclude that Ola promises to bring you the largest boot space currently available in the market, which will have the capacity of accommodating two half-face helmets, with space for packing in more.
How is the Ola Electric bike booking process?
The Ola Electric scooter booking in India or the Ola Electric bike booking is an easy process where the users would just have to go to the Ola Electric official website and book them online.
What is the range of Ola electric scooter?
The ranges of Ola Electric scooters on a single charge are-
Ola S1 – 121 km
Ola S1 Pro – 181 km
Though Ola has advertised that the Ola Electric scooters would have a range of around 181 km, the true range of Ola bikes is 135 km, as disclosed later on.
What is the top speed of Ola Electric scooter?
The top speed of Ola Electric S1 is 90km/hr whereas for the S1 Pro model the top speed is 115 km/hr.
What are the Ola S1 Pro and S1 charging times?
The Ola s1 pro charging time is around 6 hours 30 minutes, while the S1 variant of the Ola e-scooter will be fully charged in around 4 hours and 48 minutes when charged at home.
How to charge OLA electric scooters?
The Ola Electric scooters can be charged using a 750 W charger that comes with the Ola Electric scooter that needs to be plugged into a standard 5A socket. Besides, the users can also charge their scooters at the nearest Hypercharging stations.
Who is the Ola brand ambassador?
The Ola brand ambassador is none other than the founder of “BB ki vines” Bhuvan Bam.
The famous ride-hailing platform Ola has decided to shut down its used cars division, Ola Cars and its quick commerce business, Ola Dash.
At a time when the quick commerce segment in India is expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2025, growing 15 times its current size, why did Ola decide to close Ola Dash operations?
Ola Cars which allowed customers to buy and sell second-hand cars is also being closed down within one year of its launch. For what reasons Ola Cars was shut down? Find answers to all of these questions in this article.
Ola said that they decided to shut down both of their businesses since they wanted to focus more on Ola Electric. But, is that it? Or is there something more to it? Let’s uncover the exact reasons that led to the closing down of Ola Cars and Ola Dash.
No Laser-Sharp Focus
Ola originally started with a ride-hailing business model. In that sector, Ola became very successful. Although the company has always tried to enter new sectors. This is not the first time that Ola is closing one of its startups.
In 2015, the company founded a food delivery service Ola Cafes, a similar service to UberEats.
Ola Cafe
The company also launched a grocery delivery service Ola Stores. Both of these businesses were shut down a year later because the company was not able to attract a lot of customers.
In 2019, the company again tried to jump into the food delivery service by acquiring Foodpanda. However, the company was not able to gain the expected revenue and the company was shut down.
Even after shutting down 3 of its subsidiaries Ola’s will to experiment didn’t stop. In 2019, the company launched Ola Foods, a cloud kitchen business where the company planned to build 500 facilities across the country. But, only 50 cloud kitchens were set up in 2020.
Unfortunately, Ola Foods also failed and now the company is selling its cloud kitchen equipment at a 30-50% discount.
This year Ola tried to leverage the rapidly growing quick commerce segment with Ola Dash but, as you know, this business failed as well.
All these things show us that the company lacked the laser-sharp focus that any business needs in order to be successful in the market. There is nothing wrong with entering different markets but, you should first understand the market conditions.
Ola has 4 failed startups because the company never understood the competition and market conditions. When Ola tried to enter 3-4 different markets where the company didn’t have any expertise the company was not able to properly strategize and allocate resources to different sectors.
On top of that, Ola’s primary ride-hailing service was incurring heavy losses as well. A lot of drivers were leaving the company due to huge salary cuts. Customers as well were not using Ola due to a surge in prices.
Due to all of these reasons the company had no option other than closing down Ola Cars and Ola Dash.
Uncertain Nature of Quick Commerce
As we all know all the companies which are in the quick commerce segment are facing heavy losses. Be it Dunzo, Zomato or Swiggy Instamart.
Ola was also one of those companies which were incurring heavy losses in the quick commerce segment. But, why are these companies incurring losses?
There are two reasons for this: No customer loyalty and heavy discounts. Let’s understand both of these aspects in great detail.
To acquire customers in the quick commerce segment, you need to give heavy discounts to customers on groceries and other items in order to encourage them to try the app. When companies are giving discounts they are not making any profits. But, still, the companies are giving heavy discounts because this is the only way to make customers habituated to your app.
But, here the question arises: How long can you give customers discounts? At a certain point in time, any company like Zomato or Ola Dash have to stop giving discounts.
As customers are using their service just for discounts, there is no customer loyalty. Due to this Ola was not able to make a loyal customer base.
Apart from this, the increased competition in the market from newly launched startups like Zepto and Dunzo made things worse for Ola and the company decided to shut down Ola Dash.
Future Plans of Ola
The quick commerce segment is booming in India. There is a tough fight going on with so many startups like Zepto, Dunzo and Swiggy Instamart in order to capture the quick commerce market in India.
In December 2021, Swiggy invested $700 million into Instamart.
On the other hand, Zomato recently acquired Blinkit, a quick-commerce grocery delivery platform for Rs 4,447.
Zepto, a very popular 10-minute delivery platform, raised $200 million, taking the total valuation of the company to $900 million.
If so many companies are draining millions of money in this sector why did Ola decide to shut down Ola Dash?
Ola said that the company wants to focus more on Ola Electric. Instead of dabbling between multiple businesses Ola has reassessed its priorities and decided to use all of its resources in strengthening its electric sector.
Ola Car’s infra, technology and capabilities will be repurposed towards growing Ola Electric’s sales and service network, the company said in a statement.
Ola’s decision to shift its complete focus on the electric business makes sense because, within months of its launch, Ola Electric has already become India’s largest EV company.
Ola Electric
Ola Electric is delivering huge profits for the company, Rs 500 crore revenue in its first two months of FY 22-23. The company is on its way to surpassing a $1 billion run rate by the end of this year.
Due to all of these positive correlations the company has understood that if they want to stay in the race for a long time it must focus on its electric scooters. Ola has also planned to launch its second electric scooter before the end of this year.
Apart from focusing on its electric sector the company also wants to invest in new areas like cell manufacturing and financial services. To enter the world of fintech Ola has acquired Avail Finance, India’s first neobank that aims to provide financial services to the blue-collared workforce.
Conclusion
As Ola is now allocating all their resources towards Ola Electric it would be interesting to see the future of this company. Even though Ola Electric is India’s largest EV company, it did face a lot of problems in the past for its faulty batteries.
The competition in the electric sector has increased tremendously with players like TATA Motors, Mahindra, Okinawa, Tunwal and Kia Motors. Ola needs to continuously innovate and understand the market conditions if they want to be successful in the EV sector.
FAQs
Why did Ola shut down Ola Cars and Ola Dash?
Ola decided to shut down its used car division, Ola Cars and its quick commerce business, Ola Dash because the company wants to use all of its resources in strengthening Ola Electric. Ola Car’s infra, technology and capabilities will be repurposed towards growing Ola Electric’s sales and service network.
What is Ola Cars?
Using Ola Cars customers could buy and sell their used cars. Under this business, the company would purchase used cars from people and from the company’s driver-partners and would sell them to interested buyers.
Bhuvan Avnindra Shankar Bam is an Indian YouTube sensation, comedian and singer-songwriter hailing from Delhi, India. He is largely famous for his YouTube channel BB Ki Vines in which he portrays a man in his teenage years having hilarious conversations with a cast of various interesting characters portraying his friends and family, all played by him.
He started his career by posting a satirical video of a journalist asking insensitive questions to a mother about her son’s demise due to the Kashmir floods. His first video got thousands of views and went viral in Pakistan. This inspired him to start a proper YouTube channel in 2015.
Bhuvan Bam won the award for the Most Popular Channel on Youtube at the WebTVAsia Awards 2016. He was felicitated by the Hindustan Times at the first edition of their Game Changer Awards. And in 2017, India won the YouTube Creator Summit golf competition, where the main contributor was BB Ki Vines.
Bhuvan Bam has one of the highest subscribed YouTube channels in India and is the director of BB Ki Vines private limited corporation. He is immensely famous and has a wide audience and influence, especially amongst the youth of this country. This is the reason that he has an array of brand endorsement deals in his name. Among which are brands like Pizza Hut, Lenskart, Beardo, and others.
List of Brands endorsed by Bhuvan Bam
Bhuvan Bam is a very famous name now with a good amount of social media influence. He has got tons of followers on various social media platforms which makes him a target for brands to endorse their products. Some of the most famous brands endorsed by him are Pizza ut, Mivi, Artic Fox, Beardo, Lenskart, Winzo, etc.
Pizza hut is a multinational Italian-American food chain and international franchise founded in Kansas, United States of America in 1958. It entered the Indian market in 1996 and is considered the largest pizza food chain in the world.
Bhuvan Bam became the brand ambassador for Pizza Hut and was featured in its advertising campaign in 2019 to announce its new pizza range starting at ₹99 and ₹199. In this advertising campaign, Bhuvan was seen grooving to a trendy song called ‘Pizza Hut Javenge’.
Bam said, “I have never done any such thing before. There were a lot of new things that I did in terms of performing stunts and jumping off from places. We all have grown up eating pizzas from Pizza Hut and to get associated with such a brand is itself an honour and a dream come true. Every second was worth it!” on his collaboration with the pizza giant.
An electronic gadgets company, based in Hyderabad, was started by the husband-wife duo of Viswanadh Kandula and Midhula Devabhaktuni in 2015. Mivi signed Bam to be the brand ambassador of their company in 2018.
On the agreement, Bam commented, “I am delighted to be associated with Mivi and be a part of the company’s incredible journey. As a brand ambassador, it gives me an opportunity to drive the company’s consumer-first approach to offer quality products equipped with advanced features and superior designs. Considering my viewers are all Gen Z and are always on the go, Mivi’s technology, reliability & cost will suffice their needs. I’m looking forward to this partnership to grow leaps and bounds together.”
Apart from the advertisement campaign, Bhuvan Bam also promote MIVI in his videos well.
Arctic Fox
Bhuvan Bam featuring in an Artic Fox advertisement
Founded in 2018 by Sridhar Thirunakara, with its headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Arctic Fox is a backpack designing brand that has also ventured into the designing and production of different products like water bottles as well.
They signed Bhuvan Bam to be the face of their brand in 2019. The hard work and hustle that Bhuvan went and continues to go through to achieve and maintain the position that he is in resonates with the philosophy of the brand.
Bam on this association said, “Arctic Fox products are so innovative and stand for ideologies similar to mine. I always say ‘Hustle Karo Bhasad Nahi’ and Arctic Fox believes in the same that you can achieve what you want if you set your mind to it and keep going. So being their very first ambassador is a surreal new beginning for me. I’m looking forward to all the things that are coming up and let me just say, if you really, really want something in life, just Dive In!”
Beardo
Bhuvan Bam featuring in a Beardo advertisement
Beardo is a beard care brand that focuses not only on beard grooming products but skincare and body care products like face masks, soaps, body washes, moisturizers etc. It was founded by Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah.
Beardo recently collaborated with Bam for its 2020 ad campaign where he uploaded on his Instagram a video of him enacting various intense looks of bearded movie characters from Bollywood movies.
Beardo co-founder Ashutosh Valani said that “Bhuvan is the right choice for the brand because of the influence that he has on his target audience.”
Lenskart
Bhuvan Bam featuring in Lenskart advertisement
An optical prescription eyewear chain, Lenskart is an Indian company based in Faridabad. It was founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi. It has stores in more than 70 Indian cities. The company had a valuation of more than 1.5 billion US dollars in 2020 and a revenue of around 132 million US dollars.
In 2019, they announced that Bhuvan Bam would be the face of their brand, the company’s first male ambassador.
Bhuvan changed the landscape of internet content creation in India for the youth. He is a youth icon, a challenger of outdated norms and that makes him the perfect role model for everything that Lenskart wants to achieve with its brand. Digital is the way forward and both of them have their ideas perfectly aligned on that matter. He opened a Lenskart store in Gurugram, Haryana, where a large number of people showed up just to get the internet sensation’s glimpse.
WinZo
Bhuvan Bam featuring in Winzo advertisement
One of the biggest interactive entertainment and social gaming platforms in India, Winzo was founded in the year 2018 by Paavan Nanda and Saumya SinghRathore. Basically, the app gives out the opportunity to third-party games and gives them their platform, where people can play. Here, you can play various games and win real money.
In February 2022, WinZo announced that they have taken Bhubam Bam as the brand ambassador of the social gaming platform. Over 7 crore people already play on this platform.
WinZo co-founder Saumya Singh Rathore said that “Bam is one of the biggest digital stars and best entertainers of our age. He portrays over 20 interesting characters like Titu Mama, Bancho, Masterji, etc. and each of these characters constitutes a unique audience and fandom. In Bhuvan, we have got not one but 20 brand ambassadors. This collaboration is a match made in heaven.”
Ola Electric
Bhuvan Bam featuring in Ola Electric advertisement
Ola Electric is an Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturing brand. It was founded in the year 2017 by Bhavish Aggarwal. Its parent company is Ola Cabs. The brand is all about developing electric scooters.
Ola Electric took Bhuvan Bam as one of their brand ambassador for their electric scooters in 2021. Bhuvan Bam, being one of the most influential figures in the YouTube industry, Ola’s collaboration with him was a strategic one. Through this collaboration, their main aim was to create content that will help in presentation innovations to the public.
Bhuvan Bam regarding the association said that “I am really happy that Ola Electric considered me as one of their ambassadors. It’s truly exciting to be a part of this green revolution, something I’ve always wished for. The scooters are really sleek, attractive and are designed as per the Indian electric vehicle market. I have joined the green revolution already and I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on it.”
Myntra
Bhuvan Bam featuring in Myntra advertisement
It is one of the largest fashionE-commerce companies based in India. Myntrawas founded in the year 2007 and since then it has never looked back and has been continuously serving Indians with fashionable apparel and accessories.
In 2020, Myntra made Bhuvan Bam their first digital brand ambassador, this collaboration was made to attract the tech-savvy generation and they decided to create content together. Regarding the association, Bhuvan, said, “I look forward to creating quirky yet relatable fashion-focused content with Myntra that will help countless young people comfortably and confidently express themselves through fashion. I am extremely proud to contribute to Myntra’s vision of powering the fashion tastes and preferences for an entire generation of people coming through.”
Faboom
Bhuvan Bam featuring in Faboom advertisement
Faboom is a popular fantasy sports platform founded in the year 2019. It was founded by Pratik Kumar, Rishab Mathur and Sudhir Kamath. Not only that, the platform won the Best Product Innovation Award in 2020.
Faboom roped in Bhuvan Bam in 2020 as their brand ambassador. The biggest Indian YouTube star Bam was the perfect choice for them. On his association with Faboom, Bhuvan said “It is of top-most importance to me that the brand I associate with aligns with my ideology and is equally relevant to my audience. We all have grown up playing sports and games during our childhood. At a time like this, especially when social distancing norms don’t allow us to physically relish those times, it’s really exciting how Faboom’s disruptive platform provides us with the exact same feeling of enjoying our favourite sport. I’m eagerly looking forward to being a part of this passionate group.”
Bhuvan Bam confirms his endorsements through Twitter
Tissot is a luxury watch brand, the brand is famous for producing stylish luxury watches at an affordable price. In 2019, Bhuvan Bam became the brand ambassador of the luxury watch brand. The influence Bam has on the youth is something on another level. People consume content mostly through the internet now, so naturally, Bhuvan Bam termed announced their collaboration on Twitter and termed it “The New Beginning”.
Conclusion
Bhuvan Bam has a large audience amongst the age group of 15-45 years. Not only does he have over 20 million subscribers on YouTube but has 14.2 million and 3.9 million followers on other social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter respectively. He has a tremendous influence on his target audience and that is why he is a hot property in the advertising world and attracts several successful brand endorsement deals from major as well as small companies like Pizza Hut, Mivi Myntra and others. Brands are aware of what kind of influence he has over youth because of his content, that are hilarious as well as provides moral messages
FAQs
What is Bhuvan Bam full name?
Bhuvan bam’s full name is Bhuvan Avnindra Shankar Bam.
What is Bhuvan Bam’s age?
Bhuvan Bam is 27 years old.
How many subscribers does Bhuvan Bam have?
Bhuvan’s channel BB Ki Vines has 20.6 million on YouTube.
How many followers does Bhuvan Bam have on Instagram?
Bhuvan Bam has 11.8 million followers on Instagram.
You must have already heard about Ola Electric scooters, popularly dubbed as “A revolution on two wheels”? They are the reason for the popularity of #JoinTheRevolution.
Promising exceptional acceleration, remarkable handling, and strikingly large boot space, Ola’s electric vehicles can be charged anytime, anywhere and will eventually have the world’s largest and the most advanced factory in Tamil Nadu. They have certainly come up with revolutionary vehicles with an eye towards a sustainable future.
The Ola Electric scooters have already been available for pre-booking with a token sum of Rs 499 from July 15, 2020, and have witnessed more than 1 lakh registrations within the first couple of days. Words are going around that Ola will have these scooters home delivered for the people who will register for them online and the deliveries have also been started lately amidst the numerous roadblocks that the EV mobility makers had to face due to the global crunch of semiconductors.
With an aim to empower cleantech when it comes to transportation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has revealed the plans of the Indian government to create special mobility zones for electric vehicles and the focus on implementing effective battery-swapping policy along with the formation of interoperability standards during the Union Budget speech 2022. Though the setting up of EV charging stations across the country is something that has been going rounds for months now, this new focus on battery-swapability is something new and interesting!
Though the luxury carmakers, the likes of Mercedes and Jaguar Land Rover have already been delivering their vehicles home for their customers for quite a while now, Ola will certainly be the first vehicle manufacturer in India to do so!
So, have you already booked the Ola scooters for yourselves? If not, then here are some alternatives that you can check out in case you are planning to buy electric scooters:
Ather 450X was launched in 2020 and has remained a best-seller in its category to date. And why not? The vehicle simply packs some of the best features of its kind.
The Ather electric scooter can be charged from 0-80% in around 3 hours 35 minutes and offers a driving range of 116 km when fully charged. The ex-showroom price of the vehicles starts from Rs 1,32,426 in Delhi.
Simple One
Simple Energy was incorporated in 2019 and is a Bengaluru-based electric startup company. Recently they have announced that they are about to launch their first electric scooter, Simple One, which will be released in August 2021.
These scooters will offer a driving range of 240kms in one 70 minutes charge. The ex-showroom price of these vehicles would likely be starting from Rs 1,10,000 and are deemed to be one of the prominent rivals of Ola Scooters.
TVS iQube
TVS Motor Company is one of the oldest, popular motorcycle manufacturing companies of India, which is currently the third-largest motorcycle company with a revenue of over Rs 20,000 crores in the last fiscal.
TVS has been in the league of electric scooters since 2008 when it first launched TVS Scooty Teenz. Its iQube is the second model in the same segment. Launched on January 25, 2020, iQube has become one of the best-selling electric scooters in Indian markets.
These scooters can achieve a 40 kmph speed within 4.2 seconds. Furthermore, they offer a maximum distance of 75 km in a single, full charge and are definitely a big, old rival for Ola’s e-scooter.
Founded as early as 1887 in Japan, Yamaha Motor Company is really one of the oldest motor companies in India that have built enormous trust with its quality products and services.
Yamaha has already seen a successful run with its scooter models and has announced the forthcoming launch, in June 2021, of its electric scooter in the Indian market. The motorcycle maker has also stated that it is currently being thorough with the Indian policies around electric vehicles before unveiling its electric bike.
Suzuki Burgman Electric
Suzuki Motorcycle India, an Indian subsidiary of Suzuki, Japan, is one of the Big Four motorcycle manufacturers from Japan along with Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Honda, and has already witnessed a successful venture with its scooters and motorcycles in India.
Given the latest hype surrounding electric scooters in India, Suzuki India is also planning to launch its first electric bike, Suzuki Burgman Electric, which is to hit the roads in December 2021 and is billed as a powerful alternative to Ola Electric.
The scooters will likely wield a top speed of 80kmph, and sport a driving range of around 125km. They might also have swappable/portable battery technology. Burgman’s petrol scooters are priced around Rs 1 lakh mark, and the electric offering might be starting from Rs 1.50 lakh, on-road.
Hero Gogoro
Hero Motorcorp, which was formerly known as Hero Honda, is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world as well as in India. The Indian motorcycle manufacturing giant based in New Delhi, India, has already won the hearts of the Indians with their varied motorcycles for all kinds of customers and is now eyeing a similar success with its electric bike that is set to launch in 2022.
Hero has already partnered with EV behemoth, Gogoro, and is all set to set up charging infrastructures all over the country, then release their electric scooter. Coming quite late in the market Hero-Gogoro vehicles are deemed to have a good understanding of the market and will be foolproof against any odds!
As of July 2021, we can expect a price tag of Rs 1.3 lakh, until any further updates but it will surely be a challenger to all the electric vehicle manufacturers including Ola Electric.
Bajaj Auto Limited, a part of Bajaj Group, which was founded in the 1940s, had been quite popular with its two-wheelers and three-wheelers ever since its vehicles hit the road. Bajaj Chetak, the most popular scooter from the house of Bajaj, has already established a legacy, from 1972-2006, in the Indian scooter market.
Bajaj launched its Chetak Electric in January 2020, to recreate the magic. With a riding range of 90 km on a full charge, and promising a full charge of 100% within 5 hours, Chetak Electric is holding a strong position in the market as of now.
Conclusion
With a battleground ahead to make a place for themselves in the two-wheeler market of India, Ola Electric should surely prove its resilience to stay strong in the upcoming years. Nevertheless, the future for Indian two-wheelers is indeed in the safe hands of a bunch of trustworthy vehicle producers, who are not only racing for their own benefit but for the overall good of the country and the world with their eco-friendly vehicles.
FAQ
What is the price of Ola electric scooter in India?
The Ola electric scooter is priced around Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh in India.
Which is best electric scooter in India?
Revolt RV400, TVS iQube Electric, Bajaj Chetak, and Ather 450X are some of the best electric scooters in India.
What is the range of Ola electric scooter?
The Ola electric scooters can achieve a range of 130-150 kilometers.
Nitin Konde
