Ola Electric S1 launched at Rs 94,999 ex showroom Mumbai

Ola Electric has just launched its first offering – the S1 – in India and it's available in two variants, the S1, priced attractively at Rs 99,999 (ex showroom) and the S1 Pro, priced at Rs 1,29,999. The price of the scooter will vary in different states depending on the state-wise EV subsidies. The S1 will compete against the likes of the Ather 450X (Rs 1.13-1.32 lakh), Bajaj Chetak (Rs 1-1.5 lakh) and TVS iQube (Rs 93,000-1lakh).

The S1 and S1 Pro scooters both non-removable batteries of different capacities. The S1 gets a 2.89k unit while the S1 Pro gets a larger 3.5kWh battery. Now given the sheer size of the batteries you would expect the scooters to really go the distance, and the company claims that actually will. Ola claims that the S1 is capable of covering a range of 121km on a single full charge, while the S1 Pro is capable of adding a 60kms to that figure once fully juiced up. In terms of range alone, the S1 dwarfs every other electric scooter currently out in the market today, aside from the Simple Energy One that also launched on August 15 this year. Both variants come with a 750w portable home charger. This allows the S1 to come to a complete charge from naught in 4hours 48 mins, while it'll take 6hours and 30 mins for the S1 Pro to top up completely.

The S1 gets a 7-inch touchscreen and come installed with MoveOS.  The scooter will feature a variety of display themes that can be customised. Both the S1 and the Pro come with an insanely long list of features comprising things like Bluetooth/GPS connectivity, proximity lock, anti-theft alert, geo fencing, on-board navigation, reverse mode to name a few. The S1 Pro gets the additional features of a voice assistant, hill hold and cruise control.

Ola Electric has stated that its electric scooter has class-leading acceleration figures

Ola's first electric offering definitely isn't anywhere close to being a slouch, housing a mid-drive motor that produces 8.5Kw of power. Just to add some perspective, the Ather 450X, which currently rules the roost on the performance front when it comes to electric scooters, houses an electric motor with a peak output of 6kW.

Both the S1 and the S1 Pro get the same motor but are configured slightly differently, and hence will very in terms of performance and top speed. The S1 is capable of going from 0-40kmph in 3.6secs and can hit 60kmph from nought in 7secs with a top speed of 90kmph, while the higher spec S1 Pro is quicker in the run from 0-40kmph, managing that in 3secs and foes a 0-60kmoh in 5secs flat. The claimed top speed here is 115kmph. Now these figures pretty much blow all the other made-in-India scooters, whether electric or ICE, into the weeds.

While the S1 gets two ride modes, Normal and Sport, the S1 Pro gets an additional 'Hyper' ride mode in addition to the other two.

The company plan to set up a hypercharger network of over 1 lakh charging stations in over 400 cities across India. As of now, none of this has kicked off as yet, but Ola say that it aims to make its charging infrastructure one of the best in the world.

Ola has already announced that it is nearing completion of its massive scooter factory in Tamil Nadu, which will be capable of producing 2 million units, annually. The company aim to deliver its scooters in 1000 cities by October 2021. Ola S1 will be delivered and serviced and reservations can be scheduled online. The S1 & S1 Pro will be available for purchase from September 8, 2021. Up till that time, the scooter can be booked for just Rs 499.