On August 15, Ola Electric launched the Ola S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters in India. The scooters are manufactured in the country and will be exported internationally starting this financial year (ends March 31, 2022).
American entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa, in a recent tweet, called the Ola S1 as the Tesla of scooters, saying that he would love to get one in Silicon Valley. Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola CEO, replied, saying the Ola electric scooter would make it to the U.S. market early next year.
Yes soon! We will be shipping to US by early next year
Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder & CEO of Ola
Pricing & specs
In the same tweet, Wadhwa also shared a report from cnet.com about the scooter. The article itself doesn’t talk about the United States market getting the scooter. However, it does suggest a sub-USD 2,000 pricing. Prices for the Ola Scooter have currently only been revealed in Ola home country, India, but the equivalent of the standard S1 rounds out to USD 1,368 at the time of writing this article. The S1 Pro’s equivalent price, on the other hand, rounds out to USD 1,778.
Of course, import duties will have to be factored in along with shipping, but when considering other rivals, such as the Vespa Elettrica costs USD 7,500, the Ola scooters will have more than aggressive pricing. Add to the fact that even the base S1 variant at 55 mph will be faster than the top-spec 45 mph Elettrica, and you have real competition here. The more powerful S1 Pro, on the other hand, is capable of 71 mph at its fastest. Ola will also likely have the Vespa beat in range at 121 km (75 miles) and 181 km (112.4 mi) for the S1 and S1 Pro respectively, measured in Indian conditions.
Features
The Ola scooters have a lot to offer, with most of the features available as standard, even on the base variant. This is a long list. However, some of the top features are the 7-inch touchscreen dash, in-built navigation and maps, smartphone pairing, app connectivity, a digital key feature, access to contacts, messages and calls thanks to the inbuilt microphone array and speakers, a reverse mode, vehicle tracking and OTA updates. Aside from the bigger battery pack and the more speed, the S1 Pro benefits from only four additional features – cruise control, hill hold, voice assistant and an additional ‘Hyper’ driving mode.
Featured image: Ola
