Ola Electric appears to have hit another bump in the road. The fledgling electric two-wheeler manufacturer, which has already delayed scooter deliveries, had pushed its online purchase window to December 16 from November 1. Now, it appears that those eager to book their first Ola S1 or S1 Pro will have to wait longer.
Ola is currently focusing on fulfilling deliveries to existing customers and conducting test rides across 1,000 cities and towns across the country and will now open its bookings in late January 2022, according to an official email sent to prospective customers.
Ola did not clarify the correlation between conducting test rides and the online purchase window, although the chip shortage may have played a role. What’s unusual is that this time, Ola has not specified a date for reopening bookings. Instead, it has alluded to a broader time frame, which may be subject to further adjustments.
Ola confirmed to Moneycontrol that it had sent emails to prospective customers informing them about the delayed booking window. It said this was done to minimise the waiting period for the next batch of customers, who are free to reserve a scooter at Rs 499 but will not be able to make the initial down payment of Rs 20,000 required to book it.
The exact date for opening the online booking window will be announced early in 2022, Ola said.
Asked if the chip shortage had prompted this decision, an Ola spokesperson said the chip shortage had only delayed the delivery of the first batch of scooters, which has led to a domino effect of sorts.
After selling Rs 1,100 crore worth of electric scooters during a two-day sale in mid-September, Ola Electric has witnessed multiple snags in its delivery and purchase schedule.
Deliveries are now expected to start on December 15, the company informed customers who have booked the vehicles. Ola had initially indicated plans to start deliveries in October.
In the past, Ola has pushed the window for final payments to a date after the first batch of consumer test rides were conducted. The delivery of scooters was also pushed by Ola, citing the chip shortage as the primary cause.
However, Ola maintains that the first batch of customers who have made the final payments and were able to experience the scooters in November will take delivery of their scooters in the second half of December.
Ola said the window for the final payment (for those who made the initial payment on September 15-16) is open. Once they complete the payment, they will be given a final delivery date. The rest will have to wait a little longer.
The company has leaned more towards market disruption than incremental change through its sweeping plans for a widespread hyper-charger network and feature-heavy scooters.
While the product comes with immense promise, the semiconductor shortage, along with Ola’s own massive scale of operations, appear to have hit a couple of roadblocks.
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