[TheBigV]

I am highly skeptical of the Ola car. Making a car is not just a simple task of acquiring all parts and welding them together. Ola as a company is more inclined towards hogging the lime light and acquire more funding. While an imperfect scooter (like the one which goes in reverse automatically) is dangerous for 1 or 2 persons, an imperfect car controlled by a faulty software can be very very dangerous. Incidents about Ola scooters catching fire, going in reverse or literally braking in parts are far too many to get comfortable with their engineering acumen. The fact that GTO pointed out tht BMW and VW are still imperfect after 100 years of experience makes Ola far more dangerous.

[adi58]

Please don't go by such PR activity, these are just to get more valuation from the investors they are in touch with.

[HammerHead]

We need more companies like OLA to jump in the EV space for a simple fact that more players = more options for a customer to choose from!

If not someone like Ola, on whom should we bank on? Maruti Suzuki? They are not even talking 'electric'!!. Even Mahindra has nothing on sale as of today while they acquired Reva electric car company way back in 2010.

Except Tata's none of the so called 'trusted' players in the automobile field has a mass market, sub 15-20L product on sale right now. So why not OLA?

Originally Posted by Gansan

Would people readily buy a Tv, washing machine or Ac if launched by Suzuki, Yamaha or Honda? Would they buy a scooter or car launched by Sony or Whirlpool?

Then how come they are ready to buy an EV from any start up operating in a different industry? Do they think of Evs as mere gadgets and not realize they are serious road going vehicles? Should not the launching company have expertise in that field?

If a loom manufacturing company can become the most trusted car manufacturer here in India, why write off OLA without even giving them time to prove?

[neeravnaik]

Two things can be true at the same time. Ola is generally over ambitious and not thorough with their execution. But they can also be visionary and be able to get the funds and momentum to push the industry forward. Now it is time that will tell which will prevail. do they have the organization to solve all these issues or become another Tata Nano. Even if they are somewhat successful it may be good for industry (maybe not for OLa) as lot of others like Tata who are already on a good path when it comes to EV development will also be push to get their act together faster.

Version 1 of many industries generally fail (dotcom era, current blockchain, etc.) and it is with VErsion 2 you get real progress after a lot of creative destruction. It is also a test of Indian startup and Industry ecosystem on whole we progress.

[Pigcee]

One scooter caught fire and it's still under investigation, and everyone associates ola with fire! Except I- cube and chetak, all e scooters have caught fire, why the bias towards Ola. As I've already said, people love to hate Ola.

I'm an S1 pro owner, and while the scooter has its niggles, it's nowhere as dangerous as being portrayed.

As for the car, it's good to have more players in the field, if you don't like it is, don't choose it but Ola is here to stay I hope they have a good product even if they don't match the optimistic deadlines.

[Dry Ice]

Good luck to them if they can deliver.

———

A general observation about EVs.

Every tech company wants to take a stab at an EV. In that sense, they seem closer to gadgets than actual cars. Look at the YouTube reviews. You will find most tech channels review new and upcoming EVs and pass judgements about how cool it is. None of them would bat an eyelid for a traditional ICE car, even if the tech involved there is multiple times more complex than in an EV.

[Lowflyer23]

Tagline : "The last ride 😶"

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by GTO

You'll see a lot more of this. EVs are inherently simpler to make, due to lesser mechanical components (not even a gearbox!). Batteries, motors & controllers will become commoditized, like the CPU, RAM & display of your phone / laptop today.

Making an EV is not like buying all the parts and assembling a PC. An EV doesn't have an engine and gearbox. But it still is an automobile. It has a chassis, propulsion, transmission and retardation. All the other matters associated with regular automobiles - steering, handling, roadholding, cornering ability, aerodynamics, ability to take punishment, safety and durability of the parts - remain the same. And they need years of experience and reserarch. It is not mere copy paste. Right now Ola seems to be beta testing all that through the customers. It is not that I dislike Ola, but I would rather not be a beta tester. I will wait and watch.

Ather too is a fresh startup but inspires more confidence.

Originally Posted by HammerHead

If a loom manufacturing company can become the most trusted car manufacturer here in India, why write off OLA without even giving them time to prove?

A bicycle manufacturer went on to design and produce aircraft too! It was a different time and age.

[Asoon]

Yes, S1 has issues, but they have done a good job considering it is a their first attempt. Product is better than Hero Electric offerings in multiple fronts despite the fact that Hero has been there for decades and they invested few years.
We have seen established players (Hyundai Kona) struggle to get the product right

Road ready vehicle development is super complex, there are multiple components and multiple failure scenarios and all of it has to work for years to come. Innovation will not happen without trying and failures are part of journey

[Theyota]

For them to go into this business, they need venture capital. I don’t think there is any group of investors that is foolish enough to invest behind these guys.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by ajmat

They would be better off building fire engines first!

The sophisticated EV technology (battery and circuitry) need evolution. Many established businesses recall vehicles/products. These problems don't receive as much attention because they are mechanical failures, but they should still be classified as failures.

Currently, electronics make up about 20% of a two-wheel electric vehicle. Every customer wants more sophisticated products, which consume more battery power and result in breakdowns.

Yes, mechanical failures are less dangerous than those caused by fire.

[maheshm619]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

I saw a PowerDrift YouTube shorts which shows the battery capacity as 70-80 kWh! link
I hope there is some sense in claiming these figures.

I am waiting for Simple Energy to declare a new electric car launch, following Ola. Their specs would definitely make Ola's look mediocre.

Originally Posted by Asoon

Yes, S1 has issues, but they have done a good job considering it is a their first attempt.

Innovation will not happen without trying and failures are part of journey

The biggest innovation Ola did was to find a place to stick their badge and integrate a music player to the scooter.

The Ola scooter is a rebadged product.Please see link below:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...rm-etergo.html (Ola Electric acquires Netherlands based e-scooter firm Etergo)

[FrAgile]

Originally Posted by GTO

You'll see a lot more of this. EVs are inherently simpler to make, due to lesser mechanical components (not even a gearbox!). Batteries, motors & controllers will become commoditized, like the CPU, RAM & display of your phone / laptop today.

This might be a bit off topic, but some points that strike me while thinking of how electric cars might shape the future :

This brings a very interesting thought to my mind. Imagine building a Car like you build a pc. Instead of choosing gearbox and engine, the customer can choose the battery capacities, the types of motor, and even RWD, FWD, AWD or 4x4!

Is it even possible that independent manufacturers of Batteries and Motors emerge and car brands start giving options to each consumer to choose which component to fit into their body shell (body shell acting as a pc cabinet)? The sole purpose of companies being building amazing structures and fitting them with modular displays, sound systems, super bright headlights that wont blind oncoming traffic and other tech? What about building a car altogether even including these things? This would take customization to a different level altogether.

In my opinion, electrification of cars will change the whole perspective of how people look at cars. I do not appreciate the idea of flying cars and self driving cars due to many reasons. Eventually, people might look at cars (or maybe are) as gadgets. It might lose the mechanical feel or joy while making it easier, intuitive(in a different way) and highly tech loaded with everything being controlled electrically (including the storage compartments). That said, I would really like the original car manufacturers to retain at least some ICE powered models in their portofolio, maybe charging a premium in the future(in the world of electric cars) to atleast give an option to the purists, which can be bought as a luxury while electric serving the masses. Also, mechanical buttons should be retained as they do not only give tactile feel while using, but increases road safety as well as people wont need to move their eyes often enough. I do have a feeling that companies might make little indents on touch panels and add haptic feedback to those instead of giving a proper mechanical button (remember the home button of iPhone 7 ?)

As electric cars don't have any mechanical bits, this opens up the opportunity for brands like Apple and Samsung to develop cars. Imagine Apple launching a new car every year at it's September event or WWDC. Apple already introduced a very advanced version of Apple Carplay for the masses which has a very deep integration with iOS. Similar will be the case with Android Auto in the coming days/months. This integration would only get stronger.

Electrification would make cars, or rather, mobile gadgets pretty interesting and, it is yet to see if the enthusiasts or people using these new properly built electric cars on born electric platforms would miss the ICE powered cars or welcome electrification with wide grins (Torque rush?).

20 years back, a cell phone only had the functionality of calling or sending an SMS, and today, a smartphone is being used for everything else but calling (many people having more screen on time on other things that the phone app) and the highest used piece of tech in daily life. I wonder what all innovations are to come in electric cars (or smartcars?) .

[digitalnirvana]

I was very hopeful of Ola doing a Tesla. Unfortunately I wished wrong, because Ola is actually going the Tesla way - in emulating all the wrong things. Bhavish is Elon lite and doing more harm to the brand than good.

Over promising and under delivering.

In hindsight, I should have wished for Ola to do a Maruti.

Ola, if you are reading this. Be boring. Make stuff affordable and guaranteed to work. That's what the EV revolution for India should be all about.

Not constant PR. Not glitz, constant social media posts and Gerua color special editions. It looks awfully like they are trying to remain newsworthy and raise funds at optimistic valuations.

[adityadeva]

Any business is a passion.

It's more so about automobiles.

Bhavish is ambitious and audacious.

He wants to challenge and change the convention.

Fine, but, you don't have to do this by putting timelines that brings out incomplete products.

You need to sleep on the shop floor of your factory when you are pushing the boundaries and even that's nothing.

But the key is in the harmony.

The key is in listening to the feedback, even the minutest.

Once we set a goal for ourselves, it's good, but but but, when our goals affect lives of others, one needs to sit up and listen very very carefully.

Every criticism is a feedback. And success comes when one addresses the feedback, not opposes.

And I sincerely hope bhavish is not stupid enough to skip any automotive forum where Ola products are discussed. Each input is invaluable.