We’ve talked quite a bit about Ola Electric and its radical plans for the mass adoption of electrification, not just in India, but all over the world. The company has, it seems, been making good on its promises, with deliveries of the S1 and S1 Pro scooters already taking place, albeit at a pace slower than expected. On top of this, the Indian company has already started work on the HyperCharger network.
Now, despite the fact that Ola Electric has been delivering its first electric scooter, the S1, since December of last year, not all consumers appear to be satisfied. S1 buyers have recently been advised that S1 manufacturing has been pushed back until late 2022. Ola Electric recently announced that production of the S1 Pro will be prioritized because the vast majority of consumers had chosen the top-spec option.
So, what happens to those who are in line for the base-model S1? Well, those who have booked a base-spec S1 can choose to upgrade to the premium S1 Pro version. This option will be available when the final payment window opens on January 21, via the Ola Electric mobile app. Following this, deliveries of freshly assembled S1 Pro scooters will commence in the latter part of January and beginning of February. That said, customers may have to wait two to three weeks for their scooter to be delivered to their home after it has been dispatched.
As it would turn out, Ola Electric’s announcement didn’t sit well with everybody. While a lot of customers were glad that they were given the option to upgrade to the more premium S1 Pro variant, others expressed disdain that they were seemingly forced to pay an extra amount of money in order to get the scooter they had already previously reserved. Those who would wish to upgrade to the S1 Pro would have to fork up an additional Rs 30,000, or the equivalent of $400 USD—money that can be equivalent to more than a month’s worth of wages in certain parts of India.
Those who do not wish to upgrade to the S1 Pro will have to wait several months, or maybe even a year for production of the base-model S1 to resume. Ola Electric stated that it will resume the production of the base S1 scooter towards the end of 2022.
