Ola Electric Announces 1 Lakh EV Charging Stations For 400 Cities In India

It will span across 100 cities in India with over 5,000 charging points in the first year

• Will be set up at city centres, business parks, malls, cafes, and more.
• It can charge the upcoming Ola Electric Scooter’s battery to 50 percent in 18 minutes.
• A home charger will be offered for free with the scooter.
• The electric scooter is likely to be launched in the coming months.

(UPDATE: The Ola S1 has been launched in India with a starting price of Rs 99,999. Head here to read the launch story)

Shortly after Hero MotoCorp announced its strategic partnership with Taiwanese battery-swapping tech giant Gogoro, Ola Electric has raced on with the announcement of its Ola Hypercharger Network for India. 

Ola Electric’s claims for the network are pretty tall. It plans to set up a total of over 1,00,000 charging points spread across 400 cities in India, the largest and densest network in the country. In its first year Ola Electric plans to set up 5,000 charging points, spanning across 100 cities in the country. There will be multi-level charging towers at city centres and dense business districts. They will be automated, and will also serve as parking spots. Other popular locations such as malls, IT parks, office complexes and cafes will have ‘Standalone Destination Chargers’ with perpendicular parking slots. 

Ola Electric claims the Hypercharger Network can recharge the battery to 50 percent in just 18 minutes, which is good enough for a 75km (claimed) range. That means, the total claimed range of the Ola Electric Scooter would be somewhere around 150km. Having said that, we reckon such a generous range can be only achieved in the real world at a below-normal cruising speed. With the sprawling Hypercharger Network planned, it is safe to assume that the Ola Electric Scooter will have a non-removable battery pack unlike the swappable ones in the Etergo Appscooter. 

The company says you can simply navigate to the charging spot using a dedicated app; plug in, monitor the progress, and even make the payment once the scooter is charged. There is no cash or card involved in this process. Expect Ola Electric to come up with an optional subscription plan to make the payment even more seamless. 

Apart from the charging network, Ola Electric will also provide a complementary home charger that requires no extra installation. One can simply plug the module into a regular wall socket. Ola Electric assures its upcoming Electric Scooter will be priced competitively enough to be accessible enough for everyone. Expect it to be priced at around Rs 1 lakh (ex-showroom).

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With the sheer scale that Ola Electric is gunning for, it’ll be interesting how things will pan between Ola Electric and Hero MotoCorp, as the latter is all set to enter the budding electric two-wheeler segment soon, presumably with the Gogoro-powered Hero eMaestro. If Ola Electric realises its plans to the dot, we believe it’ll be enough for prospective customers to go electric without having to worry about range. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.