Ola Electric’s cruise control and hill hold OTA updates for the S1 and S1 Pro scooters are set to be more delayed than initially assumed. These updates are now expected to be rolled out in the next three to six months. This only means that eager buyers of the scooter will now have to wait for a longer time before their scooters are complete.
Ola Electric has in recent times been facing a lot of flak from buyers, media houses, and even rivals for various reasons. Deliveries are delayed, and the scooters that have been delivered have quite a few underlying issues and this includes the fact that some important features are missing on the scooters.
The Ola S1 and S1 Pro drew a lot of limelight for their brilliantly-long list of features. The two electric scooter models are simply the most-advanced electric scooters as they come with lots of segment-first features.
Some of these features include cruise control, hill hold control, moods, keyless entry, AI Voice assistance, call operations via onboard mic and speakers, etc. These are some advanced features that were announced way back, in August 2021.
The scooters we rode during the media test ride didn’t get these features as they were pre-production models running BETA software. Now though, deliveries have officially begun and buyers have finally begun receiving their scooters after a long wait. With respect to the features, these buyers might just be in for a longer waiting period.
The Ola scooters that have already been delivered do not get all of the features and buyers are told to wait for the over-the-air update. The much-awaited OTA update was initially expected to arrive in January. Now though, the latest updates from the brand reveal that these updates will take a further 3-6 months to roll out.
In a recent interview, Varun Dubey, Chief Marketing Officer at Ola Electric said, “Features like cruise control, hill hold, navigation etc. are coming up in the next few months by June. That is what we are going to deliver and it is not just about those features. As consumers continue to use the scooter and live with the scooter, we will learn and we will keep adding more and more features which consumers will continue to get.”
Ola Electric also drew criticism for its real-world range. Some users reported a range of 90 kilometres while some other reported a range of just over 100 kilometres. These figures are certainly way off the claimed 181 kilometre range. However, in Ola’s defence, the claimed range is the ARAI figure and is meant to be blown up.
Yet another issue that has cropped up around Ola Electric is regarding delivery numbers. Ola Electric claimed that 4,000 units of the S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters were delivered. However, official numbers from government portals showed a mere 500 units. Quite obviously then, there are a number of unanswered questions.
Thoughts On Ola Electric OTA Updates Being Delayed By 3-6 Months
It is safe to say that Ola Electric has gotten off to a rough start. Make no mistake, the brand is up to something great here with the S1 and S1 Pro. The scooters by themself, are brilliant and the powertrain is among the best. However, these issues with software and updates are a little bothersome. Good news is that they can be solved with the right OTA update. Now, it remains to be seen, when will Ola actually roll out these updates.