[Venkatesh]

Ola Electric has announced its plans for providing charging solutions for its electric two-wheeler customers and unveiled the Ola Hypercharger Network



Ola to set up 100,000 charging points for electric two-wheelers across 400 cities in India. Fast-charging network will enable an Ola e-scooter to get a 50% charge in 18 minutes & translate into 75km range.



The hyperchargers will be set-up across cities in city centres, dense business districts as standalone towers as well as in popular locations such as malls, IT parks, office complexes, cafes and more.



Ola customers will be able to plug their scooter into the charging point at its network and will be able to monitor the charging progress in real time on the Ola Electric app

Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman and Group CEO, Ola said, “Electric is the future of mobility and we are reimagining the entire user experience of owning an electric vehicle. Our plans to build a comprehensive charging network is a key piece of this. By creating the world’s largest and densest two-wheeler charging network, we will dramatically accelerate the customer adoption of electric vehicles and rapidly move the industry to electric.”

Introducing the Ola Hypercharger Network

https://youtu.be/7s2z9xNHVBk

Link

[Aditya]

Ola Electric has announced that it plans to set up 1,00,000 electric vehicle chargers in India over the next five years. The announcement comes ahead of its plans to launch an electric two-wheeler later this year. The company plans to set up a few hundred chargers before the launch of the scooter.



Ola Electric is calling its charging network, the” Hypercharger Network”. It will be set up across 400 cities. 5,000 of the chargers will be set up in FY2021-22. Hyperchargers will come in two types - vertical tower-based chargers and standalone chargers. These will be put up at malls, IT parks, cafes and similar public spaces. Ola customers have to simply arrive at a charging location and plug their scooter into the charging point. Customers can easily monitor the charging progress in real time on the Ola Electric app. The same app can be used to seamlessly pay for the charging as well.



The company claims that a Hypercharger is capable of charging the batteries of its electric scooter from 0-50% in 18 minutes. This is enough to give the scooter an additional 75 km of range. A full charge takes less than an hour. The company claims, that the Hypercharger network will be the largest electric two-wheeler charging network in the world.



The Ola scooter will be manufactured at the Ola Futurefactory, which is being built in Tamil Nadu. The scooter will be launched in the coming months.

Besides Hyperchargers, customers will be able to charge their Ola Electric scooters at their homes with a charger that will come with the vehicle.

[sunnsood]

Ola electric is the only reason why I am not purchasing shares of Bajaj auto and Hero motor.

Their vision if it comes true will change the entire landscape.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by sunnsood

Ola electric is the only reason why I am not purchasing shares of Bajaj auto and Hero motor.

Their vision if it comes true will change the entire landscape.

I am in the same boat. I am holding off buying Bajaj auto shares for some time now due to their reluctance to hasten the EV development. They already have a decent product in Chetak but even after more than a year it's still only available in 2 cities that too with limited bookings. The worse thing is Chetak won't even cannibalize their own ICE scooters as Bajaj doesn't have any, unlike TVS or Hero.

The funny thing is they mocked other EV startups as importers but their Chetak sales stopped for most of the last year due to battery supply chain issues from China.

[androdev]

It is unfair to judge existing ICE companies against the pie in the sky claims of EV only players. EV players have absolutely nothing to lose - they have a clean slate, easy access to venture capital, can create as much hype as they want and can even bask in the glory of bankrupting a company and move on to another startup (Snapdeal, anyone?).

Existing ICE players have a lot to protect and transition - they can't make cowboy claims and work with the motto of "go big or go home". The dynamics are very different. Imagine what would happen if all old-school companies took risks like startups. Some ICE companies will end up doing much better than OLAs/Athers of the world and some other will fail to transition.

Edit: As far as engineering talent, R&D and manufacturing technology are concerned, all Indian auto motive companies new and old are at the same baby-steps level. There is clearly no Tesla-moment here.

[lina]

I hope OLA is prepping these charging stations for car charging too. I dont see too much value in having 2 wheeler charging stations. Overnight charging would cater to most people considering daily distances on 2 wheelers would usually be <50km.

I really hope that OLA focuses more on getting a scooter with 200km range rather than developing a charger network. Ive driven the Aether and the things that irked me the most were the sub-par range, narrow tyres and the horrible fake noise. A 200kM real world range for a scooter and a 600km real world range for cars is what manufacturers need to aim for. This will rid all range anxiety.

My formula for converting real world range from claimed range is as follows: claimed range in miles = real range in km

[Mafia]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

I am in the same boat. I am holding off buying Bajaj auto shares for some time now due to their reluctance to hasten the EV development. They already have a decent product in Chetak but even after more than a year it's still only available in 2 cities that too with limited bookings. The worse thing is Chetak won't even cannibalize their own ICE scooters as Bajaj doesn't have any, unlike TVS or Hero.

The funny thing is they mocked other EV startups as importers but their Chetak sales stopped for most of the last year due to battery supply chain issues from China.

I have put off purchasing a scooter because Ola is coming. It seems like a disruptor of the current market and may change the landscape of the Indian and probably the world scooter market.

I have high expectations in terms of products and infrastructure implementation by Ola and they seem to be geared up for it too. Come June or July, things will really get interesting.

Interchangeable batteries will kill off the current crop of electric scooters. The future for EV's, in general, is fast-charging batteries and the required infra.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by androdev

It is unfair to judge existing ICE companies against the pie in the sky claims of EV only players. EV players have absolutely nothing to lose - they have a clean slate, easy access to venture capital, can create as much hype as they want and can even bask in the glory of bankrupting a company and move on to another startup (Snapdeal, anyone?).Existing ICE players have a lot to protect and transition - they can't make cowboy claims and work with the motto of "go big or go home". The dynamics are very different. Imagine what would happen if all old-school companies took risks like startups. Some ICE companies will end up doing much better than OLAs/Athers of the world and some other will fail to transition.Edit: As far as engineering talent, R&D and manufacturing technology are concerned, all Indian auto motive companies new and old are at the same baby-steps level. There is clearly no Tesla-moment here.

Well said @androdev. Your words indicate you are some one who has built a business with his own hands. I'll believe these claims when I see the brick, mortar and electricity for real. It has become fashionable for big private equity to back star CEOs/entrepreneurs and hope to make an exit on valuation purely on basis of scale with no talk of profits or cash generation or sustainability. OYO anyone? Bhavesh is certainly an exceptional person but there is a reason you never hear such bombastic PR statements from Azim Premji or Rajesh Gopinathan {bet some on the forum will say Rajesh who? - He is the MD & CEO of TCS India's 2nd largest company} or Sandeep Bakshi {another who? - Chairman of ICICI Bank - self made man}.

If Bhavesh succeeds all power to him. But I won't jump in announcing a new jubliee filmstar even before the film making has started.

[white_wolf]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Ola Electric has announced that it plans to set up 1,00,000 electric vehicle chargers in India over the next five years. The announcement comes ahead of its plans to launch an electric two-wheeler later this year. The company plans to set up a few hundred chargers before the launch of the scooter.

Besides Hyperchargers, customers will be able to charge their Ola Electric scooters at their homes with a charger that will come with the vehicle.

Okay, so in the entire press release and the video no mention of the replaceable batteries? I was expecting with the Etergo App scooter details that Ola would have to invest in battery swapping infrastructure. The case looks to be otherwise here.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by white_wolf

Okay, so in the entire press release and the video no mention of the replaceable batteries? I was expecting with the Etergo App scooter details that Ola would have to invest in battery swapping infrastructure. The case looks to be otherwise here.

There was no swapping provision for Etergo appscooter either. It was removable and can be charged separately. Not sure if Ola scooter will have this removable option.

[white_wolf]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

There was no swapping provision for Etergo appscooter either. It was removable and can be charged separately. Not sure if Ola scooter will have this removable option.

Not sure if Etergo had a swapping solution but Ola definitely had plans to create swapping infrastructure capitalising on Etergo's removable battery.

This article from last September provides some information.

https://www.livemint.com/companies/n...670895595.html

“Battery swapping will be a core product offering and differentiation when the two-wheeler EV launches in India. We will look at all different kinds of ownership and distribution models for these vehicles when it launches," said the second person, also asking not to be named.

With latest Hero-Gogoro JV we would see how both technologies play out in Indian scenario.

[sukarsan]

How do you ensure power will be supplied to these charging stations? On a very broad level, India is currently producing electricity to meet its demands( domestic and industrial). Such a venture will strain the grid which is already stretched to its limits. I believe Bhavish will have to pull some strings with Gadkari and co to make this happen.

Land is another issue. How to get real estate which does not cost a bomb? Your customer base 90% consists of urban folks living in areas which are expensive from a RE point of view. This alone will skew many calculations.
0-50% in 18 minutes for 75 kms .. From what I know this 75km will equate to 50 km in real world. Not sure why anyone will wait for 10 mins (not including the time to get to the charging station) for refuelling.

Having tried an electric scooter first hand, I am not impressed. Bajaj , hero , TVS and even suzuki are not sure of entering this game. Tesla stands tall and Ola is trying to become the Tesla of India. As pointed out by others, Ola has little to lose, while the entrenched bike makers are not too keen to enter the ring.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by sukarsan

How do you ensure power will be supplied to these charging stations? On a very broad level, India is currently producing electricity to meet its demands( domestic and industrial). Such a venture will strain the grid which is already stretched to its limits. I believe Bhavish will have to pull some strings with Gadkari and co to make this happen.

Dont worry we will have backup generators connected to these chargers

But kidding aside, I think we are in a position to add extra capacity faster than before. But adding green power will take time. I hope we see such large scale investments in green power by private companies too.

[gauravanekar]

All the brouhaha is playing out in a limited sense in India especially in enthusiasts forum like Tbhp and some govt circles. Unless realtors think seriously about charging infrastructure nothing is going to happen. I don't see any residential apartments projects advertising provision for charging EVs as an USP nor do I see any worthwhile startups/companies getting into to the business of adding charging points to the existing buildings (it is not as easy as it sounds). Correct me if I am wrong.

Comprehensive planning is needed otherwise market will not mature over and above the early adopters. Even in USA, Tesla ownership is painful for apartment dwellers. I hope EVs don't end up being rich man's toy for foreseeable future.

[rajshenoy]

We still have a long way to go and I still do not see any sort of standardisation happening in this space with respect to charging infrastructure. Even IC vehicles needed this infrastructure in the form of fuel stations and if i am not wrong, state controlled infrastructure has a very strong role to play here(and even with pollution norms etc now)

I feel this idea of every manufacturer offering end to end solution or eco system is not a feasible/scalable solution. (Unless this is a fictitious Buy N Large corp seen in Disney)