Ola Electric revealed its plans to set up the world’s largest electric two-wheeler charging network. The plan is to have more than 1,00,000 charge points in 400 cities and by the end of 2021, there will be 5,000 charging points across 100 cities in India!
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The Hypercharger Network will be positioned to work with Ola Electric's upcoming two-wheeler products starting with the Ola Scooter to be launched in the coming months. Ola Electric will be investing Rs 200 CR over a period of 5 years. Ola will build automated, multilevel charging and parking systems in popular areas across multiple cities. Also Standalone chargers will be installed across malls, IT parks and popular locations. The Ola Scooter can be charged 50 per cent in just 18 minutes for a 75 km range
"For us to ensure aggressive and large scale adoption of electric vehicles, a strong charging network is required," said Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman and group CEO, Ola. “One of the key infrastructure gaps in our country has been the charging network. By creating the world’s largest and densest 2-wheeler charging network, we will dramatically accelerate the customer adoption of electric vehicles and rapidly move the industry to electric.” The Ola Hypercharger will only be compatible with Ola Electric Scooters. The network will not be available to non Ola customers. "It is a conscious strategic choice," said Aggarwal. "By controlling both ends of the ecosystems--the vehicle and the charging infrastructure, we would be able to offer a great “seamless” experience to our customers. Both Elon Musk’s Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio have also rolled out their own proprietary charging ecosystem and strategy. With a Hyundai electric car, you cannot charge on Tesla’s supercharger network. It is for Tesla people” The much-anticipated and soon-to-be-launched Ola Scooter is a tech-driven electric vehicle with industry-leading range and speed. It will be manufactured at the Ola Futurefactory which is being built at record speed in Tamil Nadu, India, with its first phase to be ready this summer. The facility is being built with an investment of Rs 2400 crore on 500 acres of land. |
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PluginIndia's Take
With this kind of infrastructure rollout, Ola Electric is showing the way for the ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle manufacturers. This is no half hearted play here. Compared to the likes of TVS and their limited iQube electric scooter launch. Ola Electric is going full blown with this Hypercharger roll out.
But at the same time, we wonder, why Ola should spend so much money ($2 Billion over 5 years) on this network. Especially when we know the Ola's app scooter will have removable batteries. Once people own EV's, they will realize public charging infra hardly will be used. 90% charging happens at home or work. This seems to be more of a PR/branding exercise. But nevertheless, we at PluginIndia support it, as now EV neigh sayers and petrol heads cant complain about charging infrastructure.
One disappointing news is that, these charge points are not open charge points for all EVs. Only Ola electric scooters can charge here. PluginIndia always believes in open charging networks. It's a pity that Ola has gone the Tesla supercharger route. Even Ather's grid is open. Other EV's can plug in. Oh, well.
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.
With this kind of infrastructure rollout, Ola Electric is showing the way for the ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle manufacturers. This is no half hearted play here. Compared to the likes of TVS and their limited iQube electric scooter launch. Ola Electric is going full blown with this Hypercharger roll out.
But at the same time, we wonder, why Ola should spend so much money ($2 Billion over 5 years) on this network. Especially when we know the Ola's app scooter will have removable batteries. Once people own EV's, they will realize public charging infra hardly will be used. 90% charging happens at home or work. This seems to be more of a PR/branding exercise. But nevertheless, we at PluginIndia support it, as now EV neigh sayers and petrol heads cant complain about charging infrastructure.
One disappointing news is that, these charge points are not open charge points for all EVs. Only Ola electric scooters can charge here. PluginIndia always believes in open charging networks. It's a pity that Ola has gone the Tesla supercharger route. Even Ather's grid is open. Other EV's can plug in. Oh, well.
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.
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