Ola is already India’s biggest seller of electric two-wheelers, but it appears that it’ll have to wait a bit longer for its next iteration in the electric space.
Ola has suspended its electric car project, Reuters reports. The company will now focus chiefly on its two-wheelers business, which consists of scooters and a soon-to-be-launched bike. Ola had deployed external consultants and hired more than 100 employees for its electric car project, but around 30 percent of the team has now quit, and other others have been assigned to other roles and projects. Ola didn’t comment on the development.
Ola had announced its electric car in a glitzy event two years ago on 15th August. “We deserve a car that defines this new India,” Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal had then said. “An India that is fearless and believes in writing its own destiny. Our car is going to be one of the fastest cars in India. 0 to 100 within 4 seconds, it will have a range of more than 500 kilometres per charge. It will be the sportiest car ever built in India, with an all-glass roof, it will have Move OS and assisted driving capabilities as good as any other car in the world. It will be keyless and handleless,” he had added. Renders of the car had shown that it would be a sedan with a fastback roof, and likely cater the premium segment. Crucially, the car was meant to be available in 2024.
But 2024 is now half over, and Ola appears to have suspended the project. The company does have other things on its mind — Ola Electric is gearing to launch an IPO next month, which could value at the company at around $4 billion. As such, Ola appears to be focusing on its two-wheelers than be distracted by an expensive — and complex — electric car project.
Ola’s retreat from the car business comes at a time when other non-automobile companies have begun making electric cars — Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi has launched its SU7 electric car, which received over 1 lakh bookings in 6 days, and whose deliveries have already begun. There are over a dozen prominent electric car brands in China, who’ve all begun operations around a decade ago, but are now churning out electric cars by the thousands. But with Ola looking to pause its own electric car initiative, it appears that India’s first electric car — from a tech-first company — could take a while to arrive.