[hrman]

Originally Posted by arvindmanju

Some interesting observations from Vinkesh Gulati, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association

I think there lot of grey area Ola needs to answer.

True, there are questions which OLA must answer.
But the gentleman reminds me of the old age Auto and Taxi drivers at Bengaluru who went on a rampage at OLA and Uber's offices when they realised this new age disruption of app based booking will put them out of business. The temperamental auto drivers quoting "One and half kodi" and preferred sitting on their backsides than doing their jobs felt the heat once people stated opting more for app based aggregators.

Its fair to think a company like OLA would have done its home work before making claims. Mass registrations can be made possible. If they have a tieup with the RTO, they can organise mass inspection by RTO and registration.
For other locations, vehicles can be transported by truck to the new state and registration can be done. I dont think it is impossible even in the current scenario.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by adi58

All this is just overhyped marketing gimmick. Ola scooter will be a big flop just like how it happened with their other electric ventures in the past (Cab & Auto)

They are dreaming of making 10 million units annually within a year of launching, while the most successful two wheeler company in India still struggles to see such numbers. Ola thinks people will shift to scooters when scooters are the most UNSAFE mode of transport in our country, accounting to 35% of total road accident deaths (As per MORTH report 2019)

Tesla is way ahead with innovation and passenger safety. But what Ola is doing is just rebadging an existing toy like scooter without any thoughts on people’s safety.

Ola scooter is just a big disappointment.

While I agree with you that the 10 million units annually and other numbers are hyped up, I still think you're jumping the gun here. It's too early to call it a flop or disappointment.

When they fixed the booking amount at ₹499/- itself, it was clear that they want lots and lots of bookings and then they can use it for marketing purposes.

That's exactly what they did and in one day they said they had more than a lakh bookings. After that they stopped counting. Also I see all ads after that has "1lakh" written all over. Probably it's a hint at the pricing too.


They told that by the end of July or early August they'll come up with real details. Till we see it in real, take test rides and understand the pricing and other things, we shouldn't decide what it is.

[Axe77]

I finally succumbed and put in my 499/- Rs booking. Doesn’t hurt to have a foot in the door once we have more information. Keenly looking forward to the details as they emerge.

[saisree]

Ola scooter launch dates around the corner. May come with 150 kms range, keyless entry connected to the app. Now I’m more concerned about the tech savvy hackers. An Indian Jugaad is necessary for an Indian made scooter. Get those chains and Navtaal locks.

Source

[nairrk]

Today, I sent an email to the OLA support team asking below clarifications:

1-When the scooter will be launched?
2-How the scooter will be delivered to those who booked since you don't have dealership showrooms
3-Are you going to deliver the scooter in the big cities and district headquarters or even one from remote area/village side can get it delivered?

Instead of replying to above points, I received their standard reply asunder:

///

Ola Electric (Ola Electric)

01-Aug-2021, 12:33 pm IST
Hi, Nair

Thank you for your interest.

Ola Hypercharger network is coming up in 400 cities in India so you can always charge on the go. So now you can charge the scooter in common public places as well and save your precious time to charge it. We will be announcing detailed features on our website shortly.

Once you reserve your Ola Scooter, you are on the priority list for purchase. When we start the deliveries, you will be given priority to purchase your Ola Scooter.

At the time of final purchase, we will share the delivery date with you.

More details will soon be available on our website.

Warm regards,
Ola Electric Support
///

From many media reports and YouTube videos, it is almost sure that the scooter will be delivered (online purchase) at buyers doorstep. But, what worries me is what will do if any problem with the scooter, like battery failure or motor problem etc. how the repair will be done. Is it practical to send mechanics all over India (including the remote areas) to attend the repairs?

I am not confident how it will work out.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by nairrk

From many media reports and YouTube videos, it is almost sure that the scooter will be delivered (online purchase) at buyers doorstep. But, what worries me is what will do if any problem with the scooter, like battery failure or motor problem etc. how the repair will be done. Is it practical to send mechanics all over India (including the remote areas) to attend the repairs?

I am not confident how it will work out.

After reading how Tesla works, I guess something similar is in the plan for OLA. Even though everyone can order the scooter, they will start moving from South to north(as the factory is in South), i believe the initial few months deliveries will be concentrated in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi for example.

They may have one service center at a single location in these large cities(later district HQ), most repairs( hardly any service for these scooters) & Test drives will be done by with an appointment, where a mechanic will reach your place for the repairs or test drives. For larger repairs, you have to go to service centers, since this is a scooter even battery replacement can be done by the mobile mechanic. Everything works like amazon delivery, repairs may be based on commissions to the mechanic.

They save big on rental spaces in every city, they may run promotional & test drive campaigns in large malls, why wait for customers coming to showrooms, you can reach out to more customers at malls & parks.

[udaikalra01]

Spotted testing in Bangalore
Source

[ravib]

Ola Scooter eligible for Massive FAME II subsidy

https://www.firstpost.com/tech/auto-...0-9857041.html

And the launch is just around the corner.

https://www.livemint.com/auto-news/a...792723686.html

-Ravi

[myavu]

As per the current rumors this thing is not coming with a removable battery. How can we cancel the booking now?

[nairrk]

Originally Posted by myavu

How can we cancel the booking now?

I think you will have to wait till they communicate with you and give the option for you to either go ahead or cancel the booking.

[udaikalra01]

Ola Electric scooter to be launched on 15th August.

[SourPai]

Originally Posted by myavu

As per the current rumors this thing is not coming with a removable battery. How can we cancel the booking now?

How do you envisage replaceable battery to work for personal vehicles? I can understand the use case for commercial vehicles or e-rikshaws.

Battery is one of the most critical and high cost component in the electric vehicle. Why would you want to replace that at a station with some other battery where we absolutely have no clue about its usage pattern, charge cycles, degradation levels etc.?

Commercial vehicles operate like a commodity, they wont care about it, as the battery in those vehicles will be heavily used and may be abused. But in personal vehicles, I am not able to understand the concept of replaceable batteries yet, as I would not want to tradeoff my carefully used battery with someone else's.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by myavu

As per the current rumors this thing is not coming with a removable battery. How can we cancel the booking now?

I guess we have to accept this feature like our Androids and iPhones. It did take a culture and perception change to live with a 'sealed' mobile phone. But now-a-days no one even bothers.

...Gen-Z may not even know that phones a decade ago came with such a removable back panel.

[Funny]

Originally Posted by SourPai

How do you envisage replaceable battery to work for personal vehicles?

Removable is the correct term here. People would want to remove the battery and charge it at home/office at their convenience instead of setting up a charging station/power outlet at the parking area which may not be feasible in some scenarios such as rental apartments.

Also OLA hasn't mentioned anything about swappable-battery concept anywhere, not sure where you got that idea from.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by SourPai

How do you envisage replaceable battery to work for personal vehicles? I can understand the use case for commercial vehicles or e-rikshaws.

Originally Posted by svsantosh

I guess we have to accept this feature like our Androids and iPhones.

Removable battery is not like replaceable battery. I stay in the 3rd Floor and will be difficult for me to set up a charging point at our parking. If the battery is removable, it can be taken to my house and recharge it there like a mobile phone.



Something like this from Etergo which is basically OLA S itself.

Cheers!