Ola Electric likely to cross $1 billion revenue-mark: CBO Ankush Aggarwal

SoftBank-backed Ola Electric may log revenue of $1 billion this year, according to Ankush Aggarwal, chief business officer, Ola. The Bengaluru-based firm is witnessing huge demand for electric vehicles across the country including small towns, tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns.

“We are on track to get to that number,” said Aggarwal. “We have consistently grown. Not only our market share but our top line as well. This is obviously backed by the inflection that we're seeing in the market.”

The firm is leading in the electric two-wheeler segment and has sold over 35,000 units in May. Riding on its highest-ever monthly sales in May, Ola has captured a market share of over 30 per cent and has achieved a year-on-year growth of 300 per cent last month. 

The government recently lowered subsidies on electric two-wheelers under the second phase of the Faster Adoption of Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-II) scheme. This has led firms like Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Okaya EV, Ampere EV, TVS Motor Company and Matter Energy to increase the prices of their vehicles.

Ola said that it has marginally increased the product prices from June. Ola Electric has hiked the prices across its S1 range by Rs 15,000. With the revised subsidies coming into effect, Ola S1 Pro electric vehicle is now priced at Rs 1,39,999, S1 (3kWh) at Rs 1,29,999 and S1 Air (3kWh) at Rs 1,09,999. When asked if the lowering of subsidies would have any impact on the company’s leadership in the segment, Aggarwal said that Ola’s focus on engineering and innovation has enabled the brand to minimize the price impact.

“We had been preparing for a potential reduction in subsidies for a long time,” he said. “We are confident that the inflection in the market that we're seeing is going to continue despite the subsidy decreasing. The economic value of an EV still remains much bigger than any internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.”

Ola Electric recently said that it will reimburse the eligible buyers of electric scooters the cost of chargers. Aggarwal said the firm is also preparing to start deliveries of the S1 Air in July. “This is again going to cement our position in the market as the leader and enable more people to adopt EVs.”

To meet the increasing demand of EVs, Aggarwal said that Ola Electric is scaling up the two-wheeler capacity from 0.5 million to 2 million units per year.

According to sources, Ola Electric has secured a funding of $300 million to support its expansion plans.

The funding is also expected to help the firm set up an advanced cell chemistry battery plant. “Cell is an important component of the scooter,” said Aggarwal. “We are expecting this plant to be ready by year-end.”