Ola Electric S1 and S1 Pro scooters will soon hit the roads and its deliveries will start from December 15.
CEO and Co-founder of Ola Electric Bhavish Aggarwal confirmed the date in a tweet, saying that the scooters are “getting ready”.
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Direct To Consumer Model
Ola is not following the conventional method of selling through dealerships.
Instead, customers can book online and the company will directly home deliver the scooter.
It has also set up experience centres for interested customers to take test rides.
There will be no service centres either, since the company will send a technician to a customer’s home after they book an appointment for the service.
Initial Plans Hindered By Chip Shortage
The first batch of deliveries was supposed to take between October 25 and November 10.
However, an “unavoidable delay” thwarted those plans, as was mentioned in a letter sent out to customers who had booked a unit.
The delay can be attributed to the ongoing global chip shortage which has adversely affected manufacturing and supply of vehicles.
The first booking window for both scooters was open for two days in September, when customers could prebook a unit by paying Rs 499.
Testing Target
Testing then commenced in Bengaluru, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata on November 10 on an invite-only basis.
The number of cities expanded to Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, and Pune on November 19.
It has so far completed 20,000 test rides and aims to complete 10,000 test rides a day across 1,000 cities.
Price, Range
The S1 is priced at Rs 1 lakh and the S1 Pro costs Rs 1.30 lakh.
The S1 being the base variant has a lower range of 121 kms.
The Pro, on the other hand, claims coverage of 180 kms before needing a recharge.
Charging Time, Top Speed
The S1 requires 4h48m to fully charge, whereas the Pro completes charging in 6.5h.
Top speed of the former is 90 kmph and 115 kmph for the latter.
The e-scooters come with three ride modes – Normal, Sport and Hyper.
Features, Competition
Features include a large display screen with an Android-based OS, app control, speakers, USB point for charging and a large under-seat storage space.
It already enjoys immense popularity, going by the number of reservations it has received– 1 million.
It is not without competition, however, taking on the likes of market leader Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ather Energy, Revolt and PureEV.
Next Purchase Window
As for the matter of the next purchase window, the company has tweeted in response to a query that it will open by “late January”.