Ola Electric registers over 400% growth in Aug; gears up for festive season

Ola Electric said it continues to dominate the EV (electric vehicle) two-wheeler (2W) segment and has maintained its market leadership for the last one year consecutively. With about 19,000 units registered in August (as per Vahan data), Ola has achieved a year-on-year growth of over 400 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year.

SoftBank-backed Ola said it has maintained a market share of about 30 per cent during August. It competes with Ather Energy, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere, Hero Electric, and TVS Motor Company.

S1 Pro, the flagship product of Ola Electric, has undergone an engineering overhaul as it is now built on the all-new Gen-II platform. The firm said August has been the transition month from Gen-I to Gen-II, and the company also expanded its manufacturing capacity during this period.

“August has been a busy month for us as we have expanded our portfolio to five scooters with offerings across all popular price points. The expansive S1 lineup will truly put the EV adoption in a fast lane and accelerate India’s journey towards green mobility,” said Ankush Aggarwal, chief business officer, Ola. “With the festive season setting in, we expect strong sales during this period and expect the EV industry to witness an inflection point owing to high consumer demand.”

Ola Electric said it has witnessed a tremendous response for its all-new and expanded S1 scooter portfolio with more than 75,000 bookings received within two weeks of its launch. The Ola Futurefactory is operational in all three shifts to ramp up production and meet market demand. Unveiled on Independence Day as part of Ola’s annual flagship event, S1 Pro, S1 Air, S1X+, S1X (3kWh), and S1X (2kWh) are built on a newer and advanced Gen-II platform. Ola said this makes them one of the best EV propositions across price points currently available in the market.

“The whole festive period is going to be massive for us. The goal this festive season is to have a mass transition from ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles to EVs,” said Anshul Khandelwal, chief marketing officer of Ola Electric. “We now have all the products and price points, which serve all consumer needs. The target is to probably have three times the penetration that we have, this festive season.”

This month, Ola Electric announced #EndICEAge Part-I during its annual Customer Day event. The S1 Pro, the flagship product of Ola Electric, has undergone an engineering overhaul. The scooter, priced at Rs 1,47,499, features a redesigned battery pack, powertrain, and electrical and electronic system. There is a reimagined frame and suspension, and a powerful mid-drive motor with 11 kW peak power. These structural changes made the S1 Pro 6 kg lighter, leading to an enhanced range of 195 km and the industry's best top speed of 120 km/h. It accelerates 0-40 km/h in just 2.6 seconds. Like the S1 Air and S1X, it now features a flat floorboard and twin-fork set-up at the front and mono shock suspension at the rear to further enhance ride quality.

The firm is also planning to tap global markets by next year, especially within the Asia Pacific (APAC) and other neighbouring countries, said Ola CEO and founder Bhavish Aggarwal recently. By developing core technologies in-house and through adopting economies of scale, localised supply chains and manufacturing engineering, Aggarwal said the firm will ensure complete price parity between ICE (internal combustion engine) and EV vehicles. He said the company’s Gen-II platform is a testament to this commitment.

The Bengaluru-based startup unveiled four premium electric motorbikes, with sales and deliveries starting in a year, at a gala event at its Ola Futurefactory in Tamil Nadu this month. Ola Electric has a manufacturing capacity of 1 million electric vehicles per annum in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu. It plans to double that capacity to 2 million in the next 6-9 months. “This building will be eventually scaled up to 10 million units a year,” said Aggarwal. “Our motorbikes will also be made in this factory itself. Our manufacturing processes are shared between motorbikes and scooters.”