BENGALURU: Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal urged the auto industry to stop using petrol for two-wheelers by 2025 and shift to electric as he launched the company's electric scooter which will place it in direct competition with companies such as Ather Energy.
"The future is going to be electric and I hope our investments into the future factory and the revolutionary product we announced today will encourage all of you consumers to reject petrol and truly come to electric," he said in a presentation prior to the launch.
Ola's electric scooters are being manufactured in a 500-acre factory in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri. The company targets making 10 million scooters annually, or 1 scooter every 2 seconds, making it the world’s largest two-wheeler factory.
Ola, which is backed by SoftBank, said while India is the largest two-wheeler market, only 12% of its population own such a vehicle, thus keeping ample runway for future growth.
The company is also looking to invest about $2 billion in the next five years, with its partners to set up charging stations in 400 cities, the biggest obstacle against the flourishing of electric vehicles in the country.
The Ola scooters come in two variants and are priced at Rs 99,000 and Rs 129,000 respectively but in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and New Delhi, they cost less due to the subsidies provided. Ola said previously that it received advance booking requests of more than 1 lakh.
Aggarwal said the battery cells were sourced from South Korea along with battery packs and electronic items. "All other components are from India which has a decent ecosystem for two-wheelers."
"For too long we have been the fifth largest car market, the fifth largest renewable market or the second largest innovation destination. but now it is time for India to be number 1. It is time for India to lead the world in electrification and build the technologies of the future here in India for the entire world," he added.
