Electric Vehicle News
Ola’s factory will manufacture electric vehicles for customers in India and abroad including Europe, Asia, Latin America, etc. The company is gearing up to launch the first of its range of highly anticipated electric scooters in the coming months.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO, Ola, said,
"We are excited to announce our plans to set up the world’s largest scooter factory. This is a significant milestone for Ola and a proud moment for our country as we rapidly progress towards realizing our vision of moving the world to sustainable mobility solutions across shared and owned mobility. This will be one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world. This factory will showcase India’s skill and talent to produce world class products that will cater to global markets."
In May 2020, Ola Electric acquired Etergo BV, an innovative electric scooter OEM, based out of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Etergo had developed an all-electric state-of-the-art AppScooter, which has won multiple awards across the world for its innovative design and engineering at CES 2019 and Automotive Brand Contest, Germany amongst others. The AppScooter uses swappable high energy density batteries to deliver a range up to 240km and class-leading acceleration.
The factory in Tamil Nadu will manufacture Ola’s upcoming range of two wheeler products starting with Ola’s electric scooter, which features many firsts including a beautiful and seamless design, unique removable banana battery that is easy to carry and can be charged anywhere as well as intelligent software that elevates the entire consumer experience of owning a scooter.
Wow! We know that in 2019, Ola Electric got massive funding of Rs 1725 CR from Japanese investment firm SoftBank, which is a huge amount of money for an electric vehicle startup. And early this year the acquisition of Etergo, a Dutch electric scooter startup has ensured that they have access to Etergo’s advanced technology. This will ensure they can speed up development and launch of their electric scooter in India.
We are not sure if there will be major modifications to Etergo's AppScooter. We feel there won't be major changes to the scooter as they want to launch a world class product for the global market which also includes India.
The AppScooter absolutely looks incredible. The first thing you notice is the large and easy navigation display on the scooter, just like our Ather. We were impressed by the modular battery design. You can choose a battery based on your range requirements - 80, 160 or 240 km. The unique curved banana shaped batteries fit under the floorboard of the scooter. The curved batteries could be accessed from the cargo hatch under the seat. This design makes it easy to carry and also ensures you have all the space in the world in the boot.
India is a price conscious market and imagine if Ola Electric can launch a super intelligent, connected and powerful scooter at say price of Rs 1 lakh to undercut the price of competitors like Ather, Chetak, they have got it made!
Ultimately Ola Electric is here to cause disruption by launching EVs. We need more large independent EV focussed companies with no ICE Baggage or agendas. This will push the entire EV ecosystem in India. Good luck to Ola Electric team!