It was on 15th Aug last year that Ola S1 Pro was officially launched – This year on the same date, Ola is getting ready for a new launch
Ola Electric is one of those electric scooter startups that actually made it big by targeting a premium segment. When we look at sales charts, one can easily say that Hero Electric, Okinawa and Ampere sell more electric scooters. But those are not as enthusiastic as Ola S1 Pro. And definitely don’t come with as many features and don’t perform nearly as well either.
But Ola is branching out both vertically and horizontally, foraying into electric cars, indigenous batteries and more. Yeah, Ola is a little ambitious, but that’s not a bad thing. But what can we expect from August 15th event from Ola? Bhavish Aggarwal has given a hint regarding this on social media. Let’s break it down.
New S1 Electric Scooter Under Rs. 1 lakh
Despite only launching a premium product at a higher price bracket, without any ‘slow-segment’ EVs, Ola has come a long way. But Ola was supposed to launch the S1 alongside S1 Pro. Which we all by now, never happened. With recent price hikes, Ola S1 Pro now costs Rs. 1.4 lakh.
There is a place in the market for Ola to finally launch its S1 with the same design as S1 Pro. We can expect a smaller 2.98 kWh battery with 120 km range, and 90 km/h top speed. It also gets fewer features too. S1 is the first of options Aggarwal hinted at, setting priority as it will launch for around Rs. 1 lakh and might run on Move OS 3 from day one. This price bracket is stark important for Ola as Ather Energy is also developing a product for this price bracket.
Ola Electric Car
Aggarwal had teased three Electric Cars, a low-slung sedan and the other two may be an SUV and a hatchback. Four-wheeled PVs have been Ola’s ambition since day one and the company’s mother factory is said to be developed keeping that in mind. Last month, Ola also claimed that their electric car will be the sportiest car ever built in India. Raising a lot of eyebrows.
Our rendering artist Pratyush Raut had envisioned Ola’s first electric car based on teasers shared by Bhavish Aggarwal. It looks a lot like Lucid Air, at least from the front. Not a lot is known about this car and makes it to Aggarwal’s list of products in second spot.
A Cell Factory
Next in line among the probable launches by Ola, is an indigenous battery production facility. Apart from Ola maps, Aggarwal had also shown off a cell with Ola branding on it on social media last month. Specifications were not mentioned at all. We don’t know whether it’ll be an 18650 or 21750 cell, or how much is the capacity per cell, or the battery chemistry, or anything at all. But all those details may be revealed on August 15th along with where the manufacturing facility will be located.
A New Colour For S1 Pro
Last on the list, is a new colour for S1 range of electric scooters. Currently, S1 Pro is offered with 10 colour options Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Black, White, Grey, Bidge, Dark Blue, and Dark grey. Apart from limited Gerua shade, Ola is set to launch a new colour. Even though Bhaish Aggarwal asks us to guess what Ola will launch among the four choices, it is highly likely that the company will launch all four.