Bhavish Aggarwal sets 25–30% market share target for Ola Electric, bets on vertical integration for better margins

Bhavish Aggarwal

Ola Electric founder and chairman Bhavish Aggarwal said the company is targeting a 25–30 percent share of India’s two-wheeler EV market, backed by vertical integration and new product launches, even as rivals close the gap.

“Our target market share for two-wheeler EVs is about 25–30 percent with very high margins, so we believe we are on the trajectory again,” Aggarwal said in an interview to Moneycontrol on August 15 on the sidelines of the firm’s annual Sankalp event.

The event was organised at the company's newly opened gigafactory in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri where it plans to manufacture lithium ion cells for its EVs.

When asked if Ola will regain its mojo, he added: “Mojo is still there, it’ll reflect in numbers also.” Aggarwal did acknowledge that the past six months were transitional, as Ola Electric phased out its Gen 2 scooters, ramped up supplies of its Gen 3 models and introduced its first electric bike.

“It’s been two quarters of transition. Along with product transition, we’ve had a distribution scale-up. You’ll now see, leading into the festive season, the market share volumes (will) start inching upwards,” he said.

Click here to read the full interview

In July, TVS Motor led the electric two-wheeler (E2W) market with 22,225 registrations, cornering a 21.6 percent share, according to Vahan data. It was, however, 12.73 percent lower from June, when the company sold 25,468 units. Bajaj Auto held on to the second spot with 19,650 units and a 19.1 percent share, though sales were down 15.16 percent from the previous month.

Ola Electric’s market share fell to 17.35 percent during the month, down from 38.83 percent from the year-ago period. Registrations more than halved to 17,848 units compared from 41,802 units in July 2024.

Making money in EVs requires more than just scaling up production, Aggarwal said. “No one is making money. To make money with EVs, you need vertical integration, you need the technology development, you need the DNA of technology. That’s how you will build a good product and make money on it. And that’s where Ola is already,” Aggarwal said.

Looking beyond scooters, Aggarwal said Ola’s gigafactory ambitions extend to building an “energy platform for India”. The company’s cells, he said, could eventually power not just Ola’s vehicles but also drones, robotics, grid storage and other applications. “We’ll be very happy to share this with any startup or any company in India at a cost,” he added.

On August 15, Ola Electric announced the integration of its indigenously developed 4680 battery cell into two of its key models, the S1 Pro Plus electric scooter and the Roadster X Plus motorcycle. Deliveries will begin during Navaratri, which start on September 22.

"We will start deliveries this Navaratri, this is a big milestone for us. Everything inside our scooter is now homegrown, " said Aggarwal.

Ola’s cell integration follows the launch of its gigafactory, which has begun with an initial capacity of 5 GWh and is slated to be scaled up to 100 GWh in phases.

India’s EV industry depends on imports of lithium-ion cells from China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Ola sources cells from LG Chem in South Korea and suppliers in China.