On August 15, 2023, Ola Electric hosted its Customer Day event, where it thanked current customers and also presented its latest and greatest equipment. Both hardware and software was on display—from the new S1X and S1X+ electric scooters to the new MoveOS 4 operating system update. India’s largest electric scooter maker called its event End Ice Age, Part One, and stressed its intention to deliver a range of electric two-wheelers for every rider, so they won’t go back to combustion scooters and bikes.
Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal helmed the presentation, showing videos to the audience as well as pulling the covers off its new two-wheelers onstage. The event was livestreamed on YouTube, so viewers anywhere in the world could watch. That’s key to Ola’s future plans, too—because while it’s currently focused on sales and expansion within India, Ola Electric and Aggarwal have never been shy about their global intentions.
For some time, Ola Electric has been talking in vague terms about future electric motorcycle development. The indication seemed to be that after it had firmly established itself with its electric scooters, the time to roll out at least one electric motorcycle would come. What kind of bike it would be wasn’t clear, and was only spoken of in fairly nebulous terms—that is, until August 15, 2023.
Gallery: Ola Electric Reveals First Four Electric Motorcycles
Toward the end of the End Ice Age Part One event, Aggarwal and Ola Electric introduced not one, not two, not even three, but four electric motorcycles that it’s been developing. First, it showed a short video with all the bikes riding together. Then, it introduced what seem to be prototypes of the Cruiser and Adventure bike live and onstage in front of the audience.
Next, it invited Ola Electric head of design Ramkripa Ananthan to ride the Roadster model out onstage as part of the presentation. She rode out, removed her helmet, and took the microphone to tell the audience more about Ola’s design philosophy—comfort, accessibility, and electric motorcycling for all. Aggarwal then talked about the advantages of electric motorcycling that he sees, including accessibility.
Those three bikes were the lead-in to Ola Electric’s final presentation of the day. First, it showed a short video about its supersport prototype, the Diamondhead, which you can view at the top of this piece. If you’re thinking that it looks a little too uncanny valley, they also pulled the covers off it onstage—and people attending the event in person were able to get a good look at it in three dimensions.
After introducing the Diamondhead, Aggarwal talked about Ola’s intention to build electric motorcycles in India for the world—with these four prototypes paving the way. At present, the company plans to release them globally toward the end of 2024.
No details about any of these bikes—or rollout plans and distribution in any region, for that matter—have officially been announced just yet. However, it’s only August 2023 as we write this. Presumably, more information about all four bikes, their release dates, and so on will become clear as we get into 2024.
