Ola rides down the value chain

Having dominated the premium market for e-scooters, the mobility company is accelerating into the mass market

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

By establishing his company as the largest electric scooter player, accounting for over a fifth of domestic sales, Ola Electric founder and Chief Executive Bhavish Aggarwal fired his big salvo to end the ICE (internal combustion engine) age by 2025 in the two-wheeler market. On Wednesday, he took the electric scooter battle to the next level- entering the mass scooter market (70,000-under ₹1 lakh) which accounts for over 80 per cent of overall scooter sales (ICE and electric combined) where petrol-driven Honda Activa holds sway selling 180,000 vehicles a month.

On Thursday, Ola announced three electric scooter variants under its mass brand Ola S1 Air, two of them under 1 lakh. As in the smartphone market, where pricing is linked to different levels of storage for the same model, Ola is offering scooters depending on battery range.

The first model with a 2 kilowatt hour (kWh) battery will be available at an aggressive ex-show room price of ₹84,999, its most affordable offering with a range of 85 km in one charge.

There is another variant for ₹99,000 powered by a 3 kWh battery with a range of 125 km. The third product is at 1.09 lakh with a 4 kWh battery.

Ola is also pushing the pedal in the premium electric scooter market (1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh) where it has a 50 per cent share. This segment accounts for a third of electric scooter sales. To rev up sales here, it has opted to provide customers a choice with a 2 kWh battery-powered scooter in the premium end that provides high performance but lower range (91 km) compared to a similar priced bike in the mass end.