Ola Electric sale from today: Bhavish Aggarwal on why slow-charging makes sense

Ola Electric S1 and S1 Pro scooters have been making a whole lot of proverbial noise in the Indian automotive industry. While pre-launch bookings were opened in July for a refundable amount of ₹499, the Ola Electric scooters were officially launched with a starting price sticker of ₹1 lakh on August 1. Sale of the e-scooters start from today. But while subsidies are set to make electric scooters and cars more affordable than ever before, much has also been contemplated when it comes to charging infrastructure for such products. Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal took to Twitter on Wednesday to explain why low-cost, slow-charging points could be the game changer.

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While almost every electric vehicle on offer is capable of being charged quick using dedicated public points, these are still not a common sight in India. Aggarwal has previously promised a massive network of chargers - Ola calls it its Hypercharger network - at easily accessible places. And while that is crucial, he believes that slow-charging points also make solid sense. “Every 2W, 4W spends 20 hours of its daily life parked somewhere, at home or office! Easiest solution to charging infra is low cost slow charging outlets in parking, be in independent homes, RWAs/apartments etc," he tweeted, adding that this could be far cheaper than most large-scale public fast-charging points.

Most of the big players in the EV industry are offering complimentary charging box with their respective products. These can be installed at a location earmarked by an individual customer. But these also wold take several hours - depending on a wide variety of factors - to power an EV back to desired levels.

Experts mostly agree that EVs can be put on overnight charge but just in case a charge is required while on the move, there should also be a number of fast-charging points available in cities and towns. Governments - at the center and at state levels - are working towards ramping up such charging places even as private players shift gears to offer more and more locations.

Crucial here is that many of the OEMs have confirmed that charging points each establishes will welcome products from rival brands as well. As such, the process of offerings conveniently located charging points could well gain pace in the times to come.