Ola Electric on Tuesday said it plans to launch e-bikes by the end of 2024.
The bikes will be launched in four variants – cruiser, adventurer, roadster and ‘Diamondhead’ – the EV maker said, and showcased prototypes of all four variants at its annual ‘customer day’ event. his year.
The company has also launched a new model of scooter, the Ola S1 X, which comes in three different variants and announced an update to its popular S1 Pro scooter to the “Gen 2” platform that comes with upgrades to the vehicle’s engine and electrical system, among other things.
Ola also opened 100 new service centers across the country and introduced its own lithium-ion battery prototype, which the company says is being developed in-house and will be used in future vehicles. early next year.
The company also announced an update to the operating system used in its scooters called Move OS 4.
“Energy is increasingly becoming a technology paradigm and it is essential that we continue to upgrade our capabilities,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, chief executive officer and co-founder of Ola Electric.
Discover stories that interest you
The new Ola S1 X will come in three variants and will start at an out-of-showroom price of Rs 89,999 and go up to Rs 1,09,999. Agarwal says the S1 Pro Gen 2 will cost Rs 1,47,999 when it ships. The company is planning to double its production capacity “within the next six to nine months” to two million units a year, Agarwal said, adding that its factory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, has the potential to expand to two million units. up to 10 million units per year.
The newly announced motorcycles will be manufactured in the same facility, while a separate facility will produce the proposed lithium-ion batteries. “The plan is to reach 5 Gwh of cellular capacity in phase 1 and we will gradually expand that,” Aggarwal said.
Ola Electric reported a net loss of Rs 784.15 crore for the year ended March 2022, nearly triple the net loss of Rs 199.23 crore it reported in the previous year. It registered Rs 373.42 crore of operating revenue in fiscal year 22, much higher than Rs 86 lakh registered a year earlier.
The company has yet to report results for its financials ended March 2023, but a Reuters report said the company recorded an operating loss of $136 million, or about Rs 1,128, on revenue. $335 million in fiscal year 2023.
Agarwal declined to comment on the figures provided by Reuters, calling it speculative, but said 2023 revenue and profit after tax would see a “significant improvement”.
“Fiscal year 22 is an investment year for us…we only start selling in January 2022,” he said. “Fiscal year 23 was a very strong year in revenue and profits also improved significantly… We cannot share forecasts, but the numbers will be surprising.”
Refusing to engage directly in questions surrounding a potential initial public offering, Agarwal hinted that a “two-year period is too long” for an IPO.
In May, the media reported that Ola Electric is planning to list on the stock market worth up to $700 million by the end of 2023 and is expected to reach sales of 1.5 billion dollars. dollars in 2024. These numbers were touted before the Indian government stopped subsidizing electric motorcycles in a surprise move.
Agarwal did not give details on the impact of the withdrawal of subsidies on Ola Electric’s finances, but said he agreed with the logic of the recall. “Subsidies will naturally decrease as penetration and uptake increase… This is also good because companies with better R&D (research and development) have an edge, driving innovation. more,” he said in an interaction with the media.
He added that the electric scooter market is about to be consolidated.
Ola Electric sold 152,753 scooters in fiscal year 23, the company’s first full-year sales, up from 14,403 units in fiscal year 22.
The company led sales of two-wheeled electric vehicles in July this year, selling 18,333 units.
Earlier this month, ET reported that Ola Electric’s head of planning and strategy Slokarth Dash, and head of partnerships and corporate affairs Saurabh Sharda, have left the company.
Both Dash and Sharda, who have been promoted and have 78 years at Ola, have worked closely with Aggarwal.
Leave a Reply