Indian electric scooter manufacturer Ola Electric announced plans to launch an electric motorcycle to complement its growing range of electric scooters.
Ola is renowned for its affordable electric scooters, which seamlessly blend innovative technology and exceptional operational efficiency.
Within a relatively short period, the corporation successfully exceeded 100,000 items, a remarkable milestone considering its manufacturing operations began just over a year ago.
The corporation operates a massive electric vehicle manufacturing facility, known as FutureFactory, where an exclusively female team manages and maintains the operation.
There, Ola currently produces electric scooters, but is poised to expand into larger electric vehicles.
The latest innovation from Ola is focused on developing electric motorcycles, rather than a single model, with plans to roll out a series of e-bikes in the near future. Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder and CEO of Ola, intends to eventually launch a range of electric motorcycles across three segments: mass-market, mid-range, and premium superbikes.
Aggarwal was quoted as saying:
The Indian motorcycle market, with its Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 million price range, suggests a desire for a more streamlined electric vehicle (EV) offering that eschews excessive hyper-segmentation. In the realm of cycling, significant advancements in technology are poised to emerge, with substantial room for innovation by year’s end.
That timeline should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. By mid-2021, Aggarwal revealed plans for Ola to initiate global exports of electric scooters shortly, with US exports set to commence in early 2022. Here, amidst the November backdrop, a peculiar observation unfolds: no Ola S1 Professional scooters bear US plates in sight.
The corporation has ambitious long-term plans for its full-size vehicle, with Aggarwal anticipating a reveal in late 2024. Given the uncertainty of future events, it’s likely that using specific dates to plan important decisions would be unwise.
Ola seems burdened with a multitude of responsibilities, despite having no new electric motorbikes or cars in the pipeline.
Recently, the corporation unveiled plans for an entry-level S1 Air electric scooter designed to address the popularity of their S1 and S1 Professional models, but with reduced performance to achieve a lower price point?
Priced at ₹139,999, or roughly $1,690 USD, the Ola S1 Professional offers a competitive price point already available in the market. The newly launched Ola S1 Air, a timely introduction ahead of Diwali, comes with a competitive price tag of ₹79,999 (approximately US$960), offering significant value for consumers.
The Ola S1 Air is equipped with a compact 4.5 kW motor, reaching peak speeds of 85 km/h (53 mph), making it an ideal urban scooter for occasional jaunts on faster city roads and commutes within metropolitan areas.
The scooter’s top speed is 100 km (62 miles), a figure that only applies when operating in its Eco mode. In reality, world observations are typically much shorter.
For less than $1,000, an entry-level electric scooter could be a game-changer for Ola, allowing it to penetrate the market more effectively with a more attractive price point for budget-conscious consumers.
As Ola expands its corporate portfolio, introducing an affordable entry-level scooter paves the way for enhanced efficiency and more advanced electric bikes, ultimately setting the stage for transitioning into a comprehensive electric vehicle manufacturer under Aggarwal’s vision?
