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The electric vehicle (EV) landscape has changed quite rapidly over the past few years. Unsurprisingly, the change was not led by established industry players who dominate the internal combustion engine (ICE) market.
People have been aware for years of the huge positive potential for transformation in the transportation industry, from vehicles running on gasoline and diesel to those running on electrically charged batteries, and have been waiting for decades for this to happen. the revolution takes place to be disappointed. by some unsightly, slow, expensive shit that runs out of juice in no time.
The damage inflicted by old EV offerings on the psychology of people has been so negative that even today it is proving to be a major marketing hurdle for enterprising newcomers.
Credit is Elon Musk, who alone is responsible for changing the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world.
In India, there is no Tesla so far. Here, Tata Nexon EV has been the most successful car. The factors that work in its favor are the design (which is why its ICE version is now one of the best-selling compact SUVs), a five-star safety rating, an affordable price and range (on paper – 312 km on a single charge; 200-250 km in real life depending on various factors that influence the range of an EV).
But still, the range and the price are both an obstacle to its emergence as a real alternative to ICE cars. If it costs Rs 13-15 lakh, people would at least want the car to go longer distances without stopping to pay.
If it has to travel 200-250 km at most, the price should be comparable to that of the ICE version from Nexon. If neither, there must at least be a hybrid option where the vehicle can run on gasoline / diesel if it breaks down.
Again, it might take an outsider in the industry to shake up the space.
Ola, a taxi aggregator and ridesharing company, is set to dramatically change the market for two-wheeled electric vehicles in India. From details that were leaked ahead of the scooter launch, it looks like it’s going to wow the competition on almost everything – price, range on a single charge, functionality via the instrument cluster and digital display. , design, even boot space and color options.
Within months, it installed its 500-acre FutureFactory in Tamil Nadu and the company claims a production capacity of one crore of scooters per year.
It was a bold move when the entire two-wheeler industry sold two crore vehicles in 2019, the pre-pandemic year (sales declined to 1.5 crore vehicles in 2020).
The best two-wheeled electric vehicle currently available (in quality, not in number of sales) was the offer from Ather energy, a start-up based in Bengaluru.
But it only sold 3,000 units in 2020, although that is still a 30% increase from the previous year. Overall, the total sales figure for two-wheeled electric vehicles for 2020 was 30,000 odd-numbered vehicles.
In the first half of fiscal year 2021-2022, a similar number of electric vehicles were sold, showing that total annual sales could double. In this environment, Ola’s electric scooter is launched.
The media claim he received 1 lakh of bookings in less than 24 hours, showing that the demand is there if someone offers a quality product at an affordable price.
Currently, analysts predict that Ola will capture the majority of the electric vehicle market soon after its launch. But they underestimate the potential of a good two-wheeled electric vehicle.
Ola has a good chance of taking over the majority of the two-wheeler market and making decades-old players irrelevant in no time.
If Ola’s product is as good as it’s claimed, there is a small window for the industry giants to change or face a total rout.
The success of Ola’s electric two-wheeler will be of tremendous benefit to the country. According to a 2014 survey by Nielsen, two-wheelers consumed 61.42% of the country’s total gasoline sales.
The share would not have changed much over the past six years. According to Niti Aayog’s 2018 report, two-wheelers alone consume around 3,400 crore liters of gasoline each year.
At Rs 100 per liter, this would equate to Rs 3.4 lakh crore. Imagine the savings to consumers and the government (due to the oil import bill) if electricity were to take off.
Three important factors are now at play driving the demand for electric vehicles: high gasoline prices, the recent 50% increase in the Center’s subsidy for two-wheeled electric vehicles, and states providing an additional subsidy. in addition to that granted by the Center (Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi being the most generous with a subsidy per kwh at the same level as the Center or even higher and a registration / circulation tax exemption by some other states) .
These incentives might not last long if the Ola EV revolution really takes off and thousands of people actually start buying these two-wheelers. It would be too costly for the public purse.
But maybe at that point, better technology would help lower costs even further. Everyone should support the success of Ola electric.
It would be a huge victory for the environment, the economy and national interests.
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