Ola S1 Pro’s front suspension breaks at 35 Kmph: Lady rider in ICU

In yet another incident with Ola S1 Pro, a lady rider was currently admitted to the ICU. The incident was reported by Samkit Parmar, who is the husband of the lady who was riding the electric scooter when the front suspension of the scooter gave away. Here is what happened.

Yestrday a horrific incident took place with my wife. She was riding her @OlaElectric at 9.15pm at a speed of about 35kmph when her front wheel just broke out of the suspension.She was thrown away in front and is in the ICU facing severe injuries. Who is responsible?@bhash pic.twitter.com/Ko8fmkiNGL

— Samkit Parmar (@SamkitP21) January 22, 2023

Update: Official statement from Ola

Our preliminary investigation into the recent incident and our analysis has revealed that this was a case of a very high impact road accident. We are in touch with the customer and have extended all necessary support to the family. We are happy to share that the rider is safe and recovering.

At Ola, vehicle safety & quality standards are of the highest priority. The Ola S1 Pro is built with an uncompromising attention to quality in all aspects and has been rigorously tested over 5 million kms across challenging terrains and all weather conditions. 

We have more than 150,000 vehicles running on the road and we have observed this in extremely isolated cases of high impact accidents involving the front fork arm, which is designed with a factor of safety that is 80% higher than typical loads encountered on vehicles.

To alleviate any concerns of our community members, we would be happy to get your scooter checked through our service network

We sincerely urge everyone to strictly follow road safety protocols, always wear a good quality helmet and avoid riding on public roads without a valid driving license.

According to the social media post put up by Samkit Parmar, his wife was riding at a speed of 35 km/h at around 9:15 PM. He claims that the suspension suddenly gave up and the front wheel detached from the two-wheeler. This caused the scooter to throw the lady causing major injuries to the face and head. We are not sure if she was wearing a helmet.

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The incident caused serious injuries to her head and face. The lady is currently in the ICU. Samkit Parmar also tagged Ola Electric and Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, of Ola Electric. However, he is yet to receive an official response on the same.

Ola usually updates in such accidents with the speed of the vehicle and other relevant data that gets stored in the cloud in real time. However, the brand is yet to make an official statement at the moment.

Many other cases of suspension break

@OlaElectric @bhash
The front fork is breaking even in small speed driving and it is a serious and dangerous thing we are facing now, we would like to request that we need a replacement or design change on that part and save our life from a road accident due to poor material usd pic.twitter.com/cgVQwRoN5t

— sreenadh menon (@SreenadhMenon) May 24, 2022

This is not the first time that the front suspension of the Ola S1 Pro has given up. There have been several instances of the suspension giving away causing serious injuries to the rider. In a similar incident, another Ola S1 Pro user used Twitter to tell his story and complained about the suspension breaking while riding the scooter at a very slow speed.

pic.twitter.com/jBwXveL02E

— fasil (@fasilfaaaz) May 24, 2022

Another owner who identified himself as Sanjeev complained on social media about how the suspension of his S1 Pro broke while riding the scooter. Sanjeev faced the suspension problem only after six days of getting the Ola S1 Pro delivery.

There is another incident from Pune, Maharashtra reported by the owner. The front suspension of the Ola S1 Pro broke while riding the bike. The incident was reported in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. However, this was an accidental case and the Ola scooter hit another bike head-on. While the impact may cause the suspension to break away, currently it has become quite common and a safety issue.

Another user reported that the suspension of his Ola S1 Pro broke down after he rode over a speed breaker. However, do not know much about the incident and would not comment on the same. There are many other instances where the suspension broke without any change ti the vehicle.

Ola is working on new models

Ola is working on a new affordable version of the S1 Pro that will be launched in the Indian market soon. While there are not many details available on the upcoming scooter, the price details are likely to be out by the end of this month.

Ola is also working on in-house developed li-ion batteries. Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal shared an image of a Li-ion battery cell. Bhavish says that it is the brand’s first indigenously developed Li-ion battery cell.

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