Ola Electric is gearing up for its first electric motorcycle, set to be unveiled on Independence Day, close to the heels of the company's shares registering a steller debut on D-street, notching up gains of nearly 20 percent on August 9.
It is also the first major automotive listing since Maruti Suzuki debut on D-Street in 2003.
Ola Electric has been teasing images of the two-wheeler on social media for the past few days, showcasing what seems like a bike with LED headlamps and wide handlebars. No official details have been revealed yet, but the electric two-wheeler maker has been working on an electric motorcycle for some time now. Last year in August, Ola had revealed concept electric motorcycles comprising four models, namely - Diamondhead, Adventure, Roadster and Cruiser. Ola Electric is aiming to start the delivery of electric motorcycles in the first half of FY26.
Ola delivered its first electric scooter in December 2001, and has since then become the best-selling e-2W brand in India by FY23, according to a Redseer report quoted by Ola Electric in its IPO prospectus. Ola claims to have the maximum revenue of all Indian electric 2Ws OEMs, the report added.
As of FY24, motorcycles comprised of 64 percent of India's two-wheeler market, as per SIAM estimate. Within this segment, electric motorcycle's penetration has been less than one percent. Ola is hopeful that as technology improves, the penetration in the electric motorcycle segment should see an uptick.
Ola Electric said it plans to move towards the production of the e-motorcycle range after achieving margin efficiency for the scooter portfolio.
Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal is banking on in-house ability to commercially produce cells by early 2025, and aims to replace all external batteries across products over the next year. A cell is 30-35 percent of the cost of an electric vehicle, Ola's Aggarwal said, and having manufacturing capability will help auto makers save on this cost. Bhavish Aggarwal told CNBC-TV18 in a conversation on August 7 that global EV makers usually keep 20-30 percent margin on the lithium cell component of an electric vehicle, and the ability of commercially produce these in-house will imply Ola would be able to own this portion.
Ola Electric's FY24 operating revenue jumped by 90 percent to Rs 5,009 crore, driven by a surge in e-scooter sales that have cemented the company's dominance with over 50 percent market share, the company's Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) document had shown.
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