[Blackbolt]

Update: Waiting for the service engineer to show up! Removed it from charge; tried doing the reset step again ; power and reverse button pushed simultaneously for 10 seconds. Not having fancy features (speakers , app proximity unlock etc etc ) is just fine but basics also screwed up? The bike has not even been driven much. They need to beef up support staff. Apparently, service engineers were busy with 3 other bikes and hence the delay! So there are more folks in the same boat!

[pogo0120]

Originally Posted by muni

What if someone decides to unlock the features on a later date. How will the charging work and the efficiency part.70% of the cells would have been used to charging and discharging and the 30% will start from then onwards. Curious about this aspect.

Technically, i donot think there is circuitry just to charge only 70% cells. If cells are left discharged for long time, they loose their capacity and die.

Specific to S1 with larger battery and not charging fully or charging to say 70%...
There is something called memory effect. All batteries (except flow batteries) have memory effect.
Also, when battery is charging, it is not that specific area or specific chemistry is being exercised. All get exercised, one way or another. However, memory effect phenomena will start appearing as charge discharge cycles increase.

With both these in mind, I suggest, buy S1 and donot think of upgrading.
S1 with big battery, charging capped to 80% --> Assume that you have got a gold quality battery for S1.

If you want bigger battery, buy S1 pro from day one.
S1 upgraded to S1 pro after six months or one year is not a good deal, technically, from battery point of view. I cannot explain, too technical.
Just don't tell any one. Your requirements were S1 and now you have a super good battery in S1. That's it.

[Blackbolt]

Update on the issue. The service engineers were able to resolve the issue in 2 mins. They realised that the screen wasn’t getting the data on first instance. They opened it below the screen and a wire was loose. Clipped the wire in and done!

Apologies for a bad snaps in the dark. As mentioned the bike was well charged which perplexed me as to how; with so much charge it wasn’t starting.

Here’s the link to the owners manual: https://cdn.olaelectric.com/manual/s1.pdf

Cheers!

[GOTTI]

Originally Posted by Blackbolt

Update on the issue. The service engineers were able to resolve the issue in 2 mins. They realised that the screen wasn’t getting the data on first instance. They opened it below the screen and a wire was loose. Clipped the wire in and done!

Apologies for a bad snaps in the dark. As mentioned the bike was well charged which perplexed me as to how; with so much charge it wasn’t starting.

Here’s the link to the owners manual: https://cdn.olaelectric.com/manual/s1.pdf

Cheers!

And this couldn't have been rectified right at the QC step.
This is exactly why people are naysaying OLA.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by GOTTI

And this couldn't have been rectified right at the QC step.
This is exactly why people are naysaying OLA.

The QC did mess up but I think Ola did well for a non auto company with the product and pricing. I saw this thread today and was about to ask the Mods to make the post a separate thread as this is the first reported concern but since it got sorted so quickly I think we can let this one slide.

[aashishnb]

Originally Posted by Mafia

What surprises me is the amount of negativity directed towards Ola from most quarters. Sure they are using media hype to garner attention, and they are unable to keep to their own commitments.

IMO, they've used the media for hype, so need to be ready for the counter effect of the hype as well. Honestly, had it not been Ola, with its reputation, etc. and some new company, a lot of people may have called it a Ponzi scheme and asked customers to not put their money down before seeing how things pan out.
As far as having a vision goes, all startups have a very lofty vision - in fact their business model (and investor interest and fund raising) is primarily based on exponential growth/moonshot approach. Otherwise, they may not get any funding! What is probably equally important, especially in large ticket items, is for the customer to have good experience after spending big bucks, especially since the legal options for the customer are limited, resource consuming, etc.
Two case in points, not necessarily either is right or wrong, both companies have different 'ideologies':
Ather must've spent a few years and a lot of money perfecting the product before launching it.
Ola used an opposite approach - launch first and keep pivoting as we go along.

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

The disintermediation of the distributors is happening in virtually every industry.

Purely from an economic point of view, the intermediaries play a role. To put things very simplistically, for a manufacturer, every transaction has a fixed cost involved (transport & logistics, administration & staff for billing, collection, most importantly the working capital that stays locked up, etc.). They can sell, for e.g. 1 unit to the end consumer or 1000 units to an intermediary. Mostly, they optimize to sell only large quantities per transaction.
To give an extreme example of the logistics cost, even if we buy a small item from Amazon, say a pen of Rs.5, their actual cost per delivery will be approx. Rs.50-100. But the same pen, if you buy from your neighbouring store, you'll get it for Rs.5 and it will include the cost/profit of everyone in the chain. The manufacturer will be dispatching say a box/tempo/truck full of items to the distributor as against dispatching 1 item to the customer, helping optimize the costs.
Most important factor for the manufacturer is the working capital - once the item is sold to the distributor, he gets his money as per the pre-determined timeframe, releasing the investment in working capital. For a manufacturer, who already has a significant investment in the fixed assets/plant & machinery, having additional capital blocked in working capital may be difficult.
Another important factor is the inventory delivery timelines. As a retailer, I may promise the customer delivery in a few hours if a particular item is not available and get it from the distributor, but may not be able to do so from the manufacturer.
This tussle between direct vs intermediation will always be there and the equation will keep getting optimized all the time.
Even in the current example, the manufacturers are deciding the terms of sale to the large format buyers like DMart, Reliance Retail, Big Bazaar, etc. directly as they are getting their minimum order quantity, etc. but they're using the distributors network (my guess, not sure). This is making the distributors' economics haywire as they're not being compensated for the efforts (again, my guess not sure).

[aashishnb]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Now that it is out, I really have real choice and we've hit a dead end! Considering all the points, one option I can think of is a pre-owned Ather 450 or Bajaj Chetak If I can get a good one. The search is on and till we find that, My dad has to ride the vespa and I've to continue listening to his complaints...

Just to add a perspective, I considered an EV vs ICE some time ago. When Ather launched, I figured that for my kind of running, the monthly fuel cost would be similar / lower than their subscription cost for their features. So please factor that into your calculation as well.

[Venkatesh]

FADA President Vinkesh Gulati continues to comment on Ola Electric sales and registration.

Is he baffled by the Ola direct selling to customers aspect?





Link

[MaheshY1]

FADA probably don't understand the concept of scaling up and temp registration.

First, you can't scale up overnight even if you have the demand. Finding suitable manpower and talent takes time and then the workforce needs time to familiarize with the process.

Secondly, even the Vahan site has more numbers than 111. And they only have details of permanent registration. Most states allow temp registration for up to 2 months. And 1 month temp RC is pretty common. So, it'll take time.

I don't care if Ola have to skip the dealer to make the scooter more affordable for me. EVs are already quite expensive. It's not just EV startup's choice, it's their only option to make sure these expensive EVs become at least a little bit more affordable and survive to some day become a profitable business with scale.

[JReacher13]

It seems Ola has irked and caused heart burn to many companies. Lot of bashing is going in the media (some bashing may be deserved). Very fishy situation. When were business channels worried about product quality and mileage claims. Have they done any similar reporting on ICE scooters.

https://youtu.be/dBSHcaUAIOg

[sen2009]

There is one more angle to the hype.

Ola is planning its IPO for listing in 2022, most likely before Q2 ends. This is for Ola, the cab company, not Ola electric.

However, due to pandemic (WFH) and various other reasons, Ola's cab hailing business has lost significant volume.

Reference - Ola's revenue drops by 62% in FY21

Moreover, the reduction / elimination of incentives have made the drivers refuse trips at an alarmingly high rate.

A driver calling and asking about destination, fare shown in the app etc. after accepting the ride and then cancelling the trip if answers aren't to his liking is pretty common.

During late hours, drivers seem to be quite unwilling to take trips in opposite directions to their home or other places of their interest at that hour.

These things indicate one simple thing. The billions of dollars burnt to solve the cab problem did not solve the problem. It was appearing to work only till they were dumping unreasonable amounts of cash.

Now that everyone's got to earn their money, all cab problems are coming back.

This will cause great issues is valuing their IPO at astronomical levels.


Hence, they need the Ola electric hype to influence the retail crowd.
All these stories of 1 million, 10 million, 1100 crores etc. are meant to serve that one purpose only. Its going to take ages before Ola electric can make any real impact on the two wheeler scene.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

FADA President Vinkesh Gulati continues to comment on Ola Electric sales and registration.

Is he baffled by the Ola direct selling to customers aspect?

Attachment 2254022

He definitely seems to be a worried man. He is either ignorant or deliberately spreading false information. Regarding only 4000 people buying, it’s actually only Dec batch. Ola did not open full payment option for Jan and February deliveries.

There is definitely a continuous attacks against Ola which reminds me of attacks against Tesla. Ola name gets clicks for the websites and YouTube videos. Also, I am yet to see a single ad from Ola in traditional media. Their promotion is mostly through social media.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Blackbolt

Look what came in just in time!

Congratulations! Hope the initial bug that you shared does not detract from your ownership experience and I look forward to seeing further updates (both good and bad, though hopefully there are none of the latter!) from you and other TBHPians who have taken delivery of their Ola scooters.

Originally Posted by muni

My Ola scooter has not been delivered as promised but my Scooter insurance has already begun on 23rd December. Even after escalating, they have not bothered to revert with a corrective action.

Lots of customers who paid 1 to 1.4Lakh rupees have had similar experiences and are tweeting about it.

This is quite concerning! Did you get delivery of your scooter yet? Has Ola managed to rectify your insurance situation or will you (and other owners in the same situation) have to pay for insurance on a scooter that is nowhere in sight? I hope Ola has come up with some technical solution to this problem. I dont see what they can do but for a company with such great vision, I am sure that they will have some workarounds to either compensate owners for the money lost or they will give some cashback or something. After all, they are talking about a massive roll out and I am sure that they must have thought of such eventualities and solutions.

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Regarding only 4000 people buying, it’s actually only Dec batch. Ola did not open full payment option for Jan and February deliveries.

Out of curiosity, is there any reason why Ola didnt open the full payment option for January and February deliveries? Is it because they were having trouble meeting existing demand?

Originally Posted by Mafia

What surprises me is the amount of negativity directed towards Ola from most quarters. Sure they are using media hype to garner attention, and they are unable to keep to their own commitments.

But where credit is due, Ola has a vision that no other company has as a startup. They are trying something that will bury them or put them in the stratosphere or things to come. The nay Sayers seem to be too many.

Surprisingly, even Team-BHP members who are positive of such developments have been on a negative streak. Some of the negative members are not even potential customers.

Mafia, Im not sure if I misunderstood your post, but ....

Originally Posted by Mafia

I see the quality issues and the poor processes of Ola and sometimes feels like only hype.

Originally Posted by Mafia

I suppose Ola will need a good 3 to 6 months to sort out the production and quality issues.

... you seem to have answered your own question.

[Mafia]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Mafia, Im not sure if I misunderstood your post, but ....


... you seem to have answered your own question.

the point I am trying to make is though some of the negativity is deserved, people are going out of their way to bash Ola.

Reminds me somewhat of the negative publicity of the Tata Nano (the nano on fire videos). My concern is this level of scrutiny is not imposed on established players.

[avishar]

Vahan registrations in January for Ola Electric has reached 160. (December 238)

Ampere is having a cracking month. As of 5th on the Vahan website

Hero Electric = 670
Ampere = 589
Ather = 220
Ola Electric = 160

An exciting month.