Ola Electric is a home-grown EV brand that’s seen a meteoric rise ever since it was first set up in 2017 by maverick Indian entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal.
Ola Electric is now India’s largest electric two-wheeler maker, ahead of legacy two-wheeler industry titans such as TVS Motors, Bajaj Auto and even Hero MotoCorp. Why, Ola Electric is all set to even enter the three-wheeler segment, taking the fight right up to market leader Bajaj – a dominant force in the three wheeled mobility segment.
Rajiv Bajaj, an aggressive entrepreneur who’s led Bajaj Auto to great heights, has even taken multiple pot-shots at Ola Electric. And Bhavish Aggarwal has responded. So, what makes Ola Electric tick, and why do traditional automakers fear the rise of Ola Electric? Here are some answers.
An unconventional approach, right from the outset
Ola Electric started life offering electric charging services to electric cars and three wheelers, an industry that was in its infancy in 2017. In 2020, Ola changed gears and took a very unconventional approach towards automobiles, rather two wheelers to be specific by acquiring Dutch electric scooter start-up Etergo.
Ola Electric got the AppScooter – a product that Etergo was working on from 2014 until they ran out cash sometime in early 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Bhavish Aggarwal and Ola Electric got to work immediately, indigenizing the AppScooter for India. The Ola S1 Pro was born.
The Bill-Of-Materials (cost total of parts needed to assemble the final product) for Etergo’s AppScooter was over Rs. 3.5 lakh. Ola Electric’s got this figure down to well under Rs. 1.4 lakh by extensive re-engineering, and frugal engineering. In less than two, Ola Electric stunned the Indian market by launching the Ola S1 Pro in August 2021, on the Independence Day at a jaw dropping price of Rs. 1.3 lakh. The lower trim – called Ola S1 – was even cheaper at Rs. 1 lakh.
This unconventional approach – buying out a company, indigenizing a European product for India through heavy re-engineering, bringing the product to the market at blinding speed, and launching it at a stunning price tag, has ‘start-up’ written all over it. Legacy automakers can seldom operate with the speed and flexibility of a start-up, and this is where Ola Electric shines. And this is a big reason why traditional two wheeler makers in India seem wary of the brand.
Disruptive innovation
With the S1 and S1 Pro, Ola Electric not only offered a very striking product but also loaded it with features hitherto unseen on any two-wheeler. All this at a price that the competition simply could not match.
From keyless entry, hill hold assist, cruise control, three-step regenerative braking and the highest range to the most power that an electric scooter offered, the Ola scooters punched well above their weight and were runaway successes. The blistering sales growth stunned competition, and in months, Ola Electric became India’s biggest electric scooter maker.
Clearly, Ola Electric had knocked the wind off competitors’ sales, and the traditional two wheeler makers were the most affected. They did respond, with products of their own, but Ola Electric had stolen a big lead over everyone by 2022.
Faster than everyone else
Traditionally, a two wheeler has a lifecycle of about 6-8 years, and a refresh (mid cycle update) happens in say the 3rd or 4th year or launch. However, Ola Electric changed all of this as it used technology as a core strength of its electric scooters.
For instance, the MoveOS operating system, which is the brain of the S1 range of electric scooters, get constant Over-The-Air (OTA) updates that bring new features to the table. This is similar to what Tesla offers in cars, and these constant updates have made Ola scooters the coolest of the lot, and a lot fresher than other rival offerings.
This allowed Ola to make its products feel fresh every single year, and in 2025, the brand will be launching the 3rd generation of the S1 range of electric scooters. So, in about 4 years, Ola Electric has launched nearly 3 iterations of the S1. That’s one new generation of scooters every 2 years. Electric scooters from Ola are almost reaching smartphone-like update cadences, and younger generation that wants something new every other year simply loves this.
Build, take feedback, repeat!
It’s a brave new world out there, a world that’s dominated by new-age start-ups – the kind Ola Electric is. Traditional two-wheeler majors are quite conservative about introducing new features, for they are apprehensive about long term reliability. They’re also concerned about things not being perfect, and also want to slow down adding new features as it could put them in a situation where they have nothing new to offer when the time for a mid-cycle update comes in.
However, electric two-wheeler start-ups, Ola Electric included, are willing to try out new features as the younger customer is confident of quickly getting glitches fixed, if any, through regular firmware updates. It’s this thinking that makes Ola Electric a lot faster with updates, new features and even fixes.
Getting to the basics!
Growth and innovation doesn’t mean ignoring the basics. Safety is a non-negotiable in transportation, and Ola Electric, like every other automaker, has to comply with high standards laid out by the Indian government. Naturally, there is the need for great engineering depth, which Ola Electric has been tackling by hiring highly experienced industry professionals.
Then, there’s the Gigafactory that Ola Electric is setting up to manufacture cells, called the Bharat Cell. This will be another game changer not just for Ola Electric, but for the entire Indian electric vehicle ecosystem. The development and induction of Bharat Cell in Ola Electric’s vehicles will mean that India doesn’t need Chinese batteries for use in electric mobility. Future Ola two wheelers will get more price competitive, and Ola will also be able to launch a slew of electric battery based solutions – from home inverters to swappable battery packs.
Ola Electric’s first two wheelers with the new Bharat Cell is slated to launch in April 2025. They’re the Ola S1 Z, the S1 Z+, Gig and Gig+. These offerings are more affordable than anything that the competition has to offer, and this is one more reason that makes traditional two-wheeler majors concerned about Ola’s rapid rise.
The heavy artillery is yet to come!
Next year, Ola Electric will bring its electric motorcycles to the market. It’s called the Roadster range. These radical offerings, promise more power, great range, extremely economical running costs, style, technology and a price that will stun commuter bike makers – the traditional two wheeler makers who have been dominating this segment for decades. Ola’s Roadster range is likely to be the proverbial ‘cat set upon the pigeons’. And the top-of-the-line Roadster Pro, with a 194 Kmph top speed, and a 500+ kilometre range per charge, plans to take the fight to 400cc sportbikes – again threatening the dominance of traditional two-wheeler companies.
Ola Electric not just limited to personal mobility
The EV giant is all set to bring in an electric three-wheeler (autorickshaw) for both passenger and goods transport. With the electric three-wheeler, Ola will take aim at Bajaj Auto and TVS, ring fencing them on multiple fronts. Then there’s the Gig range of last-mile mobility electric two-wheelers aimed at Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto and Blinkit gig workers – again a commercial segment!
For instance, the S1 range of scooters and the Gig range of last-mile mobility scooters will take on other EV makers in the personal mobility and the last-mile commercial mobility segments. The Roadster range of electric motorcycles is designed to dominate the commuter and the 400cc sportsbike categories. The electric three-wheeler will make Ola Electric a brand to reckon with in the commercial segment.
Small wonder then that traditional two-wheeler giants are feeling the heat from India’s biggest electric two-wheeler maker!
