Bhavish Aggarwal, who established the most successful ride-hailing company in India before switching to the production of electric scooters, is currently growing his corporate empire once more. He announced plans on Monday to compete with local behemoths like Tata Group and international automakers like Hyundai Motor Co. and Tesla Inc. by entering the electric-car industry.
At the inaugural event held at the Ola headquarters in Bangalore, the 36-year-old entrepreneur stated that Ola plans to introduce its first electric vehicle in the summer of 2024, with a starting price of less than $50,000 compared to the global average of about $70,000.
The all-glass car, which has a futuristic appearance, will be produced by Aggarwal’s Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Run by his former company, ANI Technologies Pvt., Ola’s ride-hailing activities.
In an effort to reduce costs through local production, Ola Electric intends to develop its own battery technologies, beginning with lithium ion cells. The objective is to pave the way for self-reliance in the necessary technologies and then create an electric car that is entirely built in India.
Aggarwal, whose investors include SoftBank Group Corp. and Tiger Global Management, unveiled the vehicle exactly one year after Ola unveiled its electric two-wheel scooter. The announcement coincided with India’s celebration of 75 years of freedom from the British.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a renowned Indian automaker, unveiled five electric sports utility vehicles, or SUVs, on Monday. This is a sign of how congested the market has grown. By the end of 2024, the first electric SUV will be released.
Prior to the reveal on Monday, the businessman has been tweeting teaser videos of a red car with only its rear wheels showing and funny Bollywood movie one-liners.
Aggarwal has referred to Ola’s intentions as “a seat at the global EV table,” and the company is moving forward with them.
SPEAK AGGARWAL
Other information he shared at the event:
- In the next two to three years, Ola hopes to sell one million electric vehicles; the company first plans to introduce a premium model.
- Ola will have a 1,000 acre integrated EV hub and employ 1,000 people for the e-car unit.
- Electric cars will have a 500 kilometre range.
- The future of ridesharing is clean energy, and Ola ridesharing is successful.
- Reports of a merger between Ola and Uber are “rubbish.”
- Ola doesn’t need to raise money and has a solid financial sheet.
He revealed what was dubbed as the largest electric scooter manufacturing in the world last year at a location around three hours from its Bangalore headquarters. The objective was to produce around two million scooters a year, but delivery delays, quality problems, and occasionally scooters catching fire have derailed the project.
Traditional scooters and motorbikes with combustion engines continue to be popular choices for personal transportation in India and predominate on the roadways. But in recent years, the government has promoted initiatives to eliminate smog in cities and lessen reliance on imported oil by encouraging EV sales with lower taxes and duty exemptions. According to the government’s India Brand Equity Foundation, 0.32 million of these vehicles were sold in 2021, a 168% increase from the previous year.
According to the foundation, India is expected to overtake Japan as the third-largest car market in the world by 2030. The country’s government has lofty electrification targets for that time frame.
Since we are the only firm in the world offering both ride-sharing and electric mobility, Aggarwal stated, “We will merge both.”
