Ola Electric has delayed the purchase window of their electric scooters. This is the second time that the purchase window has been delayed. It was originally slated for November 1st then it got pushed to December 16th and now the purchase window will be opened in January 2022. The information has already been shared with prospective buyers through email. An exact date has not been shared by Ola till now.
Recently, Ola also delayed their scooter deliveries. Earlier, it was announced that customers would get their deliveries by the end of November. However, they postponed the deliveries by 3 to 5 weeks. So, we can expect the deliveries to start at the end of December. Till now, no customer has taken delivery of their Ola Electric Scooter.
Ola Electric will now be focusing on fulfilling deliveries and commencing test drives across 1,000 towns across the country. The customers would get an invite through an email when the test ride is available in their city. The email by Ola Electric said, “We are focused on fulfilling to existing purchasers as well as expanding our test rides across India to over 1,000 cities and towns by 15th December to ensure everyone who has reserved by paying ₹ 499, can test ride the revolutionary Ola S1.”
Reason behind delay
One of the main reasons behind the delay is the shortage of semiconductors that the world is facing. Every automobile manufacturer is facing this issue and they are coming up with different ways to tackle it. Because of this, the booking periods have been increased by several months for some vehicles.
Manufacturers are making changes to their variant line-ups. They are discontinuing some variants and introducing new ones. Some manufacturers are shipping the vehicles without infotainment system systems. Then the infotainment system is installed at the dealership level.
Another reason that is causing delays is a shortage of lithium-ion cells. Manufacturers who sell electric vehicles are facing this issue. Because the demand for lithium-ion batteries is more than the supply. Ola Electric currently imports its battery packs from Korea.
Ola working on more vehicles
Ola Electric is also working on more electric vehicles. They have said that there is an affordable scooter under development and an electric motorcycle too. Surprisingly, they are also working on an electric four-wheeler.
As of now, Ola has two electric scooters in their line-up. There is the S1 and S1 Pro. These scooters are based on Etergo BV’s electric scooter. Ola acquired Etergo back in 2020. All the scooters have the same design. Only the feature equipment, the riding range, battery pack, power figures and top speed is different. The S1 starts at Rs. 99,999 and the S1 Pro starts at Rs. 1,29,999.
Ola is not following the traditional automobile selling model. Instead, they will be delivering the scooters to the customer’s home. If he wants to get a service done then he can book the appointment through the application and a technician will come and service the scooter at the customer’s home only. In case the scooter has been in an accident, a technician will come, take the scooter, repair it and then deliver it back.