[ritesh_44]

Recently there are couple of incidents of Ola's front suspension breaking. Isn't there any regulations that makes it mandatory to have recall until this is fixed in India?

https://twitter.com/SamkitP21/status...34354437545985


https://twitter.com/soumobakshi/stat...79151259459587



Please do your due diligence before finalizing the purchase.

[m8002?]

I was never fully convinced of Ola's front suspension design from the start. Maybe it would work for the smooth roads in Western Europe but for our pot hole ridden roads, it was always a concern.

Hopefully they address these issues quickly. But can they move to a regular telescopic suspension?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

OLA S1: Front Suspension breakage issue - Posts moved to a new thread.


Looks like a serious issue with multiple cases reported and with supporting evidence on the net. Moving it to a separate thread for visibility and discussion.

This collage from a change.org petition summarizes it well - https://twitter.com/ChangeOrg_India/...Awyc9NXYQ&s=19

[AtheK]

These new companies riding the EV wave are a big cause of concern for me. The QC is questionable and so are the components used. Ola has still made a name for itself but there are so many other china imports, being sold by new companies, which might face same issues. EV Scooters catching fire is already a documented case.

If Investing in EV I think I will stick to TVS or other scooter manufacturers who have been around for sometime, atleast you can still be a bit confident.

Feel sorry for the early adopters, worst that the current owners will have to live with fear of this happening to them anytime.

[Latheesh]

It could be design, composition, or manufacturing issue. Looks like area of failure is same in all cases (and failure is due to shock/dynamic load).

I don't think there is any other solution than recall as this issue can lead to life threatening accidents. They should ask owners not to use till there is a clarity. Hope it is some 'batch specific' issue.

[fordday]

This is a very serious issue and it has been recorded from almost the start of Ola scooter deliveries.

Far more dangerous than battery catching fire, as it happens on running condition.

I have cancelled both my Ola bookings just because of this. Hope the new S1 Air with twin telescopic shocks does not have this issue.

[ReventonLover]

From a couple of photos, the failure point seems to be the wheel assembly casting where it mates with the front fork. The specific joint needs to undergo stress analysis and temporarily be reinforced with a parallel arm so that the load is not concentrated on one side.

[GTO]

If something breaks in your 4-wheeler in the city, odds are that you will have a crash, but walk away from it. On a 2-wheeler, you could suffer serious injury or worse with a suspension failure. That's why, if any new company launches a 2-wheeler, I would prefer waiting for at least 2 - 3 years before buying the model. Similar to how we advise buying a fresh Tata / Mahindra product 2 years after launch, so they can sort out the niggles. This has time & again proven to be a wise decision.

All the more serious with 2-wheelers. Please don't blindly buy fresh products from startups. Wait for the initial problems to be sorted. There is no replacement for the decades of experience in manufacturing that the entrenched OEMs bring. Further, for all the testing that manufacturers do, there is quite nothing like real-world testing by the initial thousands of customers.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by GTO

All the more serious with 2-wheelers. Please don't blindly buy fresh products from startups

Well sir, Ather didn't have this issue, infact the only issue Ather had was to postpone the launch dates frequently, which paid them well today; most had to wait indefinitely for the product; Ather & Ola reminds me of the story of Chuma & Azur.

iQube, Optima, Chetak or even Vida have strong funding, so not categorizing them under startup. Point is, one has to exercise caution when buying any new product.

[PreludeSH]

This problem is very serious. The scooter just collapsing in front with you on it. Some issue where the scooter doesn't start or move or engine/motor stalling is different for a scooter without gear.
Will be good to see technically what makes the Ola front to break off. Is it with the damper or the metal that connects to the wheel ? Is it always the same point ?

[Ragasruoban]

Full fledged, vehicle level validation is required to identify these kind of failure modes. I'm not sure if the new start-ups are following this, since, there is no rig-level testing which can accurately simulate real world conditions, especially those in India.
In this race of EV age, many manufacturers skip crucial steps in product development resulting in concerns which can be life critical. Proper scrutiny at the administrative level, could be a good checkpoint.

[ritesh_44]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

It could be design, composition, or manufacturing issue. Looks like area of failure is same in all cases (and failure is due to shock/dynamic load).

I don't think there is any other solution than recall as this issue can lead to life threatening accidents. They should ask owners not to use till there is a clarity. Hope it is some 'batch specific' issue.

Looks like both scooters are from different batch, date of manufacturing ~4 months apart

https://twitter.com/soumobakshi/stat...80891136458752

[anilupadhya]

Originally Posted by AtheK

These new companies riding the EV wave are a big cause of concern for me. The QC is questionable and so are the components used.

I hope there was data on the manufacturing year/month/batch of scooters with this issue. I believe it could be the initial lot of Ola scooters that have suffered. They were in a rush to get them to market. Ola may have the data, but making it open to public is a marketing call.

It is a new product. The first one the company has introduced. This issue has happened to the Himalayan, the Interceptor (rear frame) when first introduced. Quite recently saw a Bajaj chetak (EV) with a broken drive train/linkage to the rear hub motor at the service center. Not quite as publicized. They have a well setup manufacturing process but have/had defects. Its permissible upto a certain threshold.

The data may have been collected and rectified. The initial adopter may feel they were cheated, but thats the gamble you take with any new product. The cost of a new scooter has increased by quite a margin compared to when first launched.

They are actually very pliant and the acceleration is addictive. And less the said about the scientifically designed speed breakers (road humps and potholes) the better. It makes for a perfect recipe for broken bones and chassis.

I own one from the Nov 22 batch and love riding it. Stopped using my Duke 390. Only wish it had more range. The sports mode reminds me of the VTEC. mellow until you reach a position in the throttle input, then it takes off. I dont use the Hyper mode, I find it dangerous for now. The motor loses power even at the slightest tap of the brake lever and then there is a sudden rush of power when released. Perfect for overtaking when the traffic is predictable.

I agree there is no such stories about the Ather. Its well designed aluminum structure. But then, its more like we paid for the structure rather than the number of cells (range). Also, have read about a few operational issues with them.

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by m8002?

I was never fully convinced of Ola's front suspension design from the start. Maybe it would work for the smooth roads in Western Europe but for our pot hole ridden roads, it was always a concern.

The question here is, who/which agency has certified/type approved this vehicle. If there are multiple instances of similar failures, there should also be a scrutiny of the certification process. (ICAT for example)

[volkman10]

No recall yet - Ola's official statement on the incident, calls it a 'high impact road accident'!