Ola Electric Scooter to launch on August 15, says CEO Bhavish Aggarwal

Ola Electric's much-anticipated electric scooter will be launched on 15th August [Image: Twitter/@bhash]

Ola Electric's much-anticipated electric scooter will be launched on August 15, coinciding with India's Independence Day, a larger point that its founder Bhavish Aggarwal wants to drive home about making in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Aggarwal also said that the company would share full specifications and details of the electric scooter and the availability dates.

“Thanks to all who have reserved our scooter! Planning a launch event for the Ola Scooter on 15th August. Will share full specs and details on product and availability dates. Looking forward to it!” Aggarwal said in a tweet on August 3.

The scooter will be offered in 10 colour options including blue, black, white, grey and shades of red and yellow.

Ola Electric opened reservations for its electric scooter for a refundable deposit of Rs 499 on July 15. Days later, it announced that it had received over 1 lakh bookings within the first 24 hours.

Talking about the record-setting bookings, Aggarwal earlier said that it was a huge step in the transition to electric mobility and that it is only the beginning.

The Aggarwal-led firm, spun off from ride-hailing firm Ola, is setting up a 500-acre factory in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri, with an aim to make 1 crore vehicles per year at full capacity -- making it the world’s largest two-wheeler factory.

It recently raised $100 million in long term debt from Bank of Baroda to close the first phase of development of its factory, where it plans to make these electric two-wheelers.

Moneycontrol had reported in April that Ola Electric plans to invest $2 billion over the next five years along with its partners to set up more than 1 lakh charging stations across 400 cities. Lack of charging stations is currently one of the biggest hindrances to mainstream EV usage in India.

Aggarwal recently also urged Tesla founder Elon Musk to build and not just import in India, tweeting that he strongly disagreed with Hyundai and Tesla, who called for lower duties in India on imported EVs.

Ola Electric is valued at over a billion dollars, with the backing of investors such as Matrix Partners, Tiger Global Management and SoftBank, among others. Ola’s core ride-hailing unit is also planning to list on stock exchanges soon, for which it raised $500 million from Warburg Pincus and Temasek, giving early backers Tiger and Matrix a part exit from their stake in the company too.