Ola S1 Launched At Rs 99,999

The S1 undercuts the S1 Pro massively and is the most affordable Ola scooter on sale in India.

Ola Electric celebrated the 75th Independence Day of our country by launching the new Ola S1 electric scooter. The new Ola S1 is the most affordable electric scooter launched by the brand and has been priced at Rs 99,999 (ex-showroom). This makes the S1 a massive Rs 40,000 cheaper than the S1 Pro variant. According to the brand, the pricing is introductory and is applicable to a limited number of units. Delivery for the first lot of the electric scooter is expected to commence from September 7. The Ola S1 is available in five colour options - Porcelain White, Jet Black, Neo Mint, Coral Glam and Liquid Silver,

Visually, the Ola S1 and the S1 Pro are similar and both the scooters even share the same platform. Where there is a noticeable difference is in their performance and range, as while the S1 employs a smaller 3kWh battery, the S1 Pro gets a 4kWh battery, though peak power output is identical at 8.5kW. The end result is that the Ola S1 has slightly slower acceleration and lower top speed. You can see the difference in performance and range in the following table:

The smaller battery capacity has also resulted in the Ola S1 being lighter as it tips the scale at 121kg making it 4kg lighter than its sibling. Apart from the weight difference, seat height, underseat storage capacity, ground clearance, suspension and braking hardware remains identical. Even with respect to features, both the Ola S1 scooters are on par with the S1 getting popular features such as music, navigation, reverse mode, remote unlock and OTA updates. The only notable feature missing from the Ola S1 is cruise control, which to be fair is something not many owners will really miss out on.

So as you can see by adopting slightly lesser performance and range, Ola have been successful in making its electric scooters more accessible. With few States removing EV subsidies, the Ola S1 couldn’t have come at a better time as subsidy-dependent electric scooters will now become even more expensive to own. While the Ola S1 is a positive step, Ola as a brand has been suffering over the past few months as customers have been facing lots of issues with their scooters and the manner in which grievances have been handled isn't something to be proud of. Ola has tried to address this by offering five-year extended warranty (battery, motor and electric components) with the S1 scooter and existing Ola electric scooters can buy the extended five-year warranty as well. But with EVs gaining more popularity with every passing month and given the massive price drop, the Ola S1 should find many takers, but how it performs is something we can only share once we have ridden it. Watch this space for more updates.