Electric scooters are much more relevant in the Indian market compared to electric cars. Because of our roads and traffic, scooters are much easier to handle and ride. Ola has launched its first electric scooter. They have two models, OLA S1, S1 Pro. Before OLA few companies launched electric scooters. Like Ather, Hero, Bajaj & TVS. Though Hero has been there in this market for quite a time now, their scooters do not have a good Driving range or performance hence they are struggling to create impact in the electric scooter market. But the new startups like Ather, OLA and Simple energy are solving that problem. They have good performance and a good driving range. In this article, we will talk about can OLA electric scooters bring the electric scooter trend to India?
OLA electric scooter
OLA launched pre-booking on July 15 of this year, where anyone could have pre-booked this electric scooter with Rs 499. Though the actual booking would start from September 8 2021, the vehicle’s delivery will start from October. Below are stats about OLA scooter S1 and S1 Pro
| Specs | Ola S1 | Ola S1 Pro |
| 0-40 km/h | 3.6 s | 3 s |
| Range | 121 KM | 181 KM |
| Modes | Normal, Sports | Normal, Sports, Hyper |
| Kerb Weight | 121 KG | 125 KG |
| Top Speed | 90 Km | 115 Km |
| Peak motor power | 8.5 kW | 8.5 kW |
| Torque | 58 Nm | 58 Nm |
| Battery Capacity | 2.98KW | 3.97KW |
| Charging Time | 4 hours 48 mins (100%) | 6 hours 30 mins (100%) |
| EX-SHOWROOM PRICE | ₹99,999 | ₹1,29,999 |
How does OLA compare with other rivals
Simple energy one
Simple Energy launched its Simple energy one on the same day as OLA. Though booking and delivery will happen around the end of this year, that is not confirmed yet. Here are some stats about Simple energy one
| Specs | Simple Energy one |
| 0-40 km/h | 2.95 s |
| Range | 236 Km (Real-world 203 Km in eco-mode) |
| Modes | Eco, Ride, Dash, Sonic |
| Kerb Weight | 110 KG |
| Top Speed | 105 Km |
| Peak motor power | 8.5 kW |
| Torque | 72 Nm |
| Battery Capacity | 4.8 KWh |
| Charging Time | 2.75 hrs up to 80% |
| EX-SHOWROOM PRICE | ₹99,999 |
Ather
Ather launched its electric scooter in 2018, you can read the article here. But they have not changed the model, which they really need to do now, as there are better options for consumers, like OLA, Simple energy one and more.
| Specs | Ather 450X | Ather 450 Plus |
| 0-40 km/h | 3.3 s | 3.9 s |
| Range | 85 KM | 70 KM |
| Modes | Eco, Ride, Sports, Wrap | Eco, Ride, Sports, Wrap |
| Kerb Weight | 108 KG | 108 KG |
| Top Speed | 80 Km | 80 Km |
| Peak motor power | 6 kW | 5.4 kW |
| Torque | 26 Nm | 22 Nm |
| Battery Capacity | 2.6KW | 2.4KW |
| Charging Time | 15 km in 10 mins 0 – 80% in 3 hour 35 min | 10 km in 10 mins |
| EX-SHOWROOM PRICE | ₹1,44,500 | ₹1,25,490 |
Bajaj Chetak
| Specs | Chetak |
| 0-40 km/h | – |
| Range | 90 KM |
| Modes | – |
| Kerb Weight | – |
| Top Speed | 70 Km |
| Peak motor power | 4 kW |
| Torque | 16 Nm |
| Battery Capacity | 2.89 KWh |
| Charging Time | 100% in 5 Hrs, 25% charge in 1 Hr |
| EX-SHOWROOM PRICE | ₹1,42,988 |
TVS iQube
| Specs | iQube |
| 0-40 km/h | 4.2 s |
| Range | 75 KM |
| Modes | Eco and Power |
| Kerb Weight | 118 KG |
| Top Speed | 78 Km |
| Peak motor power | 4.4 kW |
| Torque | 140 Nm |
| Battery Capacity | 2.25 KWh |
| Charging Time | 80% in 5 Hrs, and a full charge in 7 Hrs |
| EX-SHOWROOM PRICE | ₹1,10,506 |
When seeing the above details, Smart energy One looks promising, but we can be sure only after its launch. Also, OLA electric scooter looks promising when compared to the current competitors. But if smart energy brings the electric scooter as promised then they will definitely lead the market.
Now let’s see will this new OLA electric scooter bring in the trend of electric scooters in India.
- To switch to electric or to even see a trend of electric scooters in India, an electric scooter needs to fulfil two main aspects.
- Driving range and charging time & infrastructure.
- Because these 2 aspects are the key to electric scooter adoption. And frankly, till now no scooter is able to achieve this.
- But with OLA launching their electric scooters, the driving range has certainly improved but we need to wait for the real driving range, but charging time and infrastructure are still in question.
- OLA is going for no petrol two wheeler to be sold after 2025, which is quite optimistic according to me, and we can consider 2030 not 2025.
- OLA has said they will create a charging infrastructure with 5000 charging stations across 100 cities in the 1st year.
- These charging stations will charge 50% in 18 minutes, which is good for now.
- Charging Infrastructure needs to improve as most of the urban population lives in flat schemes, where home charging becomes difficult.
- Also we as a consumer need to adopt Electric scooters over ICE, if we want to improve the overall electric scooter market. This will help companies to produce much better electric scooters in the future.
Conclusion
There are millions of scooters in India, but in 2020, the electric scooter count was only 1,50,000 units. Though it is expected to grow by 2025.
Realistically speaking, the surge in electric scooters will only pick up when we have good charging infrastructure and a decent driving range. Both of which are lacking in the current scenario. Though we can expect a change in 5+ years if more and more electric charging stations pop up in and around the city, also new flat schemes should build their flats with charging infrastructure, which would increase the convenience. And we as a consumer should adopt these electric scooters.
Also as moving forward we can definitely see affordable pricing for electric scooters. The new OLA and smart energy electric scooters are quite within the affordable price range, though according to me pricing around 60-80K is competitive pricing.
According to me, there would be an increase in the adoption of electric scooters by 2023, and surpass the ICE scooter numbers by 2030.
