Ola S1 Air e-Scooter Detailed In 7 Pictures

Ola’s most affordable electric scooter for the Indian market is here with Honda Activa-rivalling sticker price! Here’s a closer look

Imagine a scooter that does not cost a fortune to run despite the high cost of liquid gold. Right away your brain would’ve conjured up an answer: an electric scooter. But there’s a catch – e-scooters are comparatively more expensive to purchase than conventional, petrol-powered scoots.

However, what if an e-scooter is available with a price tag that is in the same ballpark as the best-selling scooter in India, the Honda Activa 6G, and is as capable? Well, Ola Electric has done it with the S1 Air which costs Rs 84,999 (ex-showroom Delhi including FAME II subsidy), and here is how it looks up close.

In terms of appearance, the Ola S1 Air takes complete design inspiration (read identical) from the S1 and S1 Pro. However, it adopts a slightly commuter-ish approach with a single long grab rail, plain saddle, less edgy styling and black-coloured panels in the lower part of the body.

Electrifying the e-scooter is a smaller 4.5kW hub motor, instead of the 5.5kW mid-mounted motor found in its siblings. The battery pack is smaller too, rated at 2.5kWh, offering a claimed range of 101km Ideal Driving Cycle (IDC).

While the e-scooter is slower than its siblings, it still is pretty fast when compared to other scooters in its price range, with a claimed top speed of 85kmph and a 0-40kmph sprint time of 4.3 seconds.

The hardware is where the e-scooter really replicates a conventional petrol scooter with a telescopic fork and a dual rear shock absorber suspension setup. The brakes are drum units and not discs, and to accommodate that, it also gets a slightly different wheel design.

Nonetheless, the S1 Air comes fully loaded with features including a reverse mode, a seven-inch touchscreen display with smartphone connectivity, multiple ride profiles, music and call control, multiple riding moods (that changes the layout of the console as well as the motor sound) and a party mode, where the scooter’s speaker plays music from the connected smartphone.

Now at this price, the S1 Air is Rs 25,000 more affordable than the other premium e-scooter, the TVS iQube Standard. However, we do hope that the S1 does not suffer from the same niggles as the S1 Pro. Stay tuned for a comprehensive road test.