Ola electric is not having the best year so far. In the Indian summer heat, the sun is getting to not only people but also Ola’s electric scooter. In the past month, the company has been under fire as many scooters have been bursting into fire. The company has blamed it on the batteries, in addition to this, many customers have also complained of the poor customer service of the company.
Despite this, Ola has now announced future plans of venturing into the four-wheeler sector. The startup has shared that it is in the process of developing a mass-market electric car and it will be launched within the next two years.
This electric car will be equipped with autonomous technology that will offer self-driving capabilities.
Ola Electric car design:
Ola car is being developed by Krux Studios. This is the design studio that is led by Ramkripa Ananthan, former Head of Design for Mahindra. She played an integral role in the transformation of Mahindra’s passenger vehicles. Her team has designed the Thar, XUV700, and the upcoming Scorpio.
It is likely that she had a role to play in the design of the upcoming Mahindra cars that are based on KUV100 and XUV300. It is now reported that Ramkripa has recently made a visit to the Ola Electric Head office in order to discuss the involvement of Krux Studio in the designing of the upcoming electric car for Ola.
Krux Studio’s involvement in the development of the car is doubtful as of now.
The development of Ola’s first car was first confirmed by CEO Bhavish Aggarwal who revealed that the upcoming EV will cater to most customers in the Indian market. In addition to this, he also shared that the EV manufacturing firm started testing an autonomous vehicle nearly 6 months ago. Ola displayed this tech in the form of a self-driving demo vehicle/ modified golf cart.
This demo vehicle had autonomous driving technology that comprised two Light Detection and Ranging LIDAR cameras, a video camera and GPS. It detected obstacles ahead, stopped for people and found its way around twists and turns efficiently. The cart came of use in hospitals, malls, offices, and public places. It will make its way to overseas markets as well.
Despite the technology being in stages of infancy in terms of development, it is a concept vehicle on which future cars are expected to be developed. The upcoming electric car will make its global debut towards the end of this year or early on next year. Slokart Dash, Ola Electric’s Head of Strategy and Planning, has hinted that the car will be priced below 10 lakh INR.
Earlier this year, Ola acquired Pune-based geospatial services provider GeoSpoc. This acquisition will help Ola Electric in building high0res maps that will prove to be useful in the development of autonomous tech and it is most likely to feature in the forthcoming electric four-wheeler. Upon launching, the Ola Electric Car will fare against entry-level EVs such as the Tata Tigor EV and the Mahindra eKUV100.
Ola Electric has also revealed that it will aim to enter the UK electric vehicle market by 2025. Its initial lineup for the UK market will consist of the S1 and S1 Pro scooters and the upcoming car. Apart from this, Ola has other stuff planned for the long-term in the four-wheeler department.
Ola electric is looking to invest nearly 981 crores in the course of the next five years in its Warwickshire facility in England that employs over 200 auto designers and engineers. The EV maker has also established a technical centre in Coventry, England in January of 2022.
Source: AutoET
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