Ola Electric rolls out 'India's largest EV test ride initiative'. Check details

Ola Electric on Saturday announced it has commenced pan-India test rides for its S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters that were launched earlier this year. While test rides for prospective customers had begun in select metropolitan cities earlier this month, Ola Electric now states that it is taking the initiative to 1,000 cities and towns, calling it the largest EV test drive program here.

The Ola Electric S1 scooter has received a mammoth response since the first round of reservations were opened online at ₹499. The purchase window opened subsequently was also completely digital as Ola Electric is following a direct-to-home program and has no dealer partners. The deliveries too are scheduled to start this month.

Many, however, had been inquiring about test rides before finalising plans of purchasing the Ola S1 or S1 Pro variant. On November 10, test rides began in Bengaluru, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, followed by test rides starting in five more cities - Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Pune - from November 19.

As per the company, the response at the test rides event has been largely positive which has prompted it to now take the program across the country. “We are scaling test rides up rapidly in the coming weeks and will be covering over 1000 cities and towns across India to ensure every customer has access to test rides by mid December," said Arun Sirdeshmukh, Chief Business Officer at Ola Electric. “This is the fastest national scale up of test rides ever and a revolution in automotive retail made possible by our direct to consumer model."

The next batch of cities that will see Ola Electric test rides starting come November 27 are Surat, Thiruvananthapura, Kozhikode, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Bhubaneswar, Tiruppur, Jaipur and Nagpur.

But why is the Ola Electric scooter enjoying such a big response?

Ola S1 and S1 Pro: Range

Ola Electric makes a big claim that its product offers a high range per charge, something many consider crucial before deciding on purchase plans for an EV. While the S1 variant claims to cover 121 kms, the more-expensive S1 Pro brags of going around 180 kms before needing a recharge.

Ola S1 and S1 Pro: Features

The Ola Electric S1 scooter aims to balance ride performance with a plethora of features, some of which are a first in the segment. So while one can look forward to three ride modes - Normal, Sport and Hyper, instant acceleration, stable high-speed ride, among others, there are also factors like a large display screen with an Android-based OS, app control, speakers, USB point for charging etc.

Ola S1 and S1 Pro: Price

The Ola S1 electric scooter variant is priced at ₹1 lakh, the S1 Pro is priced at ₹1.30 lakh (ex showroom, before state subsidies).