Introduction:
Ola’s journey in the electric vehicle industry has been full of adventure and ups and downs but finally Ola made it and now it’s making it big in the EV market and it has regained its number 1 position in the monthly EV sales report. Initially, the Ola S1 pro drove a wave of negativity towards Ola electric but later on Ola kept making progress and brought the OTA update Move OS 2.0 and things got a little stabilized after that Ola launched Ola S1 which was delayed on the launch by 1 year. But as there is a verse in Hindi “Der aaye durust aaye” Ola S1 was launched and took Ola to the number 1 position again. People loved Ola S1 and in no time the Ola S1 booking comfortably outnumbered Ola S1 pro.
But Ola didn’t stop there it launched another E-scooter Ola S1 Air that’s purely meant to compete in the budget segment electric scooter and it’s beautifully placed in the market. Ola has no major threat in the price segment they are and with the offering, they are providing. But now Ola has built many internal categories and in this article, we are going to compare to most popular and cost-effective electric scooters Ola S1 and Ola S1 Air.
About Ola S1 Air:
It was launched on the Diwali event amid many important announcements with a huge audience engagement by Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal himself. The booking of S1 Air started by the next day of its launch i.e. 23 October ’22 and the delivery will begin from April 2023. The price is placed at a budget segment i.e. 85,000₹ and it’ll be equipped with all the features that Ola S1 and S1 pro has and will receive all the upcoming OTA updates. The scooter also got some hardware upgrades after reviews and feedback from customers, which make it superior to Ola S1 and S1 pro to some extent.
With Ola S1 Air, S1 pro, & S1 the company has given multiple options for their customers to choose from, it gives Ola’s potential customers multiple options to choose from and gives company the superpower to fight in multiple market segments.
Have a look at Ola S1 Air launch event:
About Ola S1:
Bhavish launched the Ola S1 on the 15th of August event, with various other upcoming surprises like the Ola car, future factory, and much more. Ola S1 was launched amid drowning sales of Ola electric but the impact of S1 landed on reports the next month after launching their S1 electric scooter. The impact was super positive and huge. People showed lots of love for the S1 and bookings of this scooter were at their peak for Ola to retain back its position in the market the S1 has played a major role.
Have a look at Ola S1 launch event:
The most prominent reason for S1 touching such immense heights was quite strategic. Indian EV market has most of the audience interested in EVs under or around 1 lakh, and if compared the Ola S1 is the best electric scooter in its price segment. This converted the audience buying 1 lakh electric scooter turned towards Ola S1 and this effect get Ola where they are now.
Ola S1 VS Ola S1 air:
Both Ola S1 and S1 Air have their own advantages and limitations but both the scooters come at a very similar price point, they just have a delta of 15,000 rupees and if a customer buys a scooter at 85,000₹ it most probably won’t bother him/her to spend another 15,000₹ and buy superior scooter than S1 Air so this small price variation make both the scooters very important from a comparison standpoint. Let’s compare both of them in each category:
Features comparison:
Both Ola S1 and S1 Air will get the same features on the whole along with all the upcoming OTA updates. But Ola does make some noticeable changes in S1 Air after taking customer reviews and feedback, here’s the list of all the changes in S1 Air that aren’t present in S1:
- More sturdy and reliable rear grip
- Dual tone colour in 5 different primary colours
- Flat foot board
- Steel wheels
- Powered by a hub motor (S1 and S1 pro is powered by mid drive motor)
- 25kg lighter than the S1 pro
- Dual front suspension
- Drum breaks on both the ends
- Few features like, hill hold, cruise control, hyper mode might be missing
Specifications comparison:
The S1 Air is the just a lower version of Ola S1 so specification wise Ola S1 easily wins but there’re some noticeable changes that you must look for, here’s the compete table of specs comparison between Ola S1 and Ola S1 Air:
Specification | Ola S1 | Ola S1 Air |
Range | 128km (True range) | 76km (True range) |
Top speed | 95km/h | 85km/h |
Charging time | 5hr | 4.5hr |
Battery | 2.97kWh | 2.5kWh |
Motor Power | 8.5kW | 4.5kW |
Motor type | Mid drive | Hub motor |
Acceleration (0-40km/h) | 3.8sec | 4.3sec |
Price and guarantee comparison:
The price difference between both the scooters is 15,000 the ex-showroom price of Ola S1 Air is 85,000₹/- and whereas the Ola S1 is priced at 1 lakh₹ but here’s the full breakdown of the cost of Ola S1 and during delivery, Ola S1 air may look similar
What should you buy:
All in all everyone looks at the range of the EV while buying and clearly Ola S1 has most of the advantages in performance. But S1 Air is the best option in budget segment electric scooters. Everyone has their own opinion on what is best for themselves and choosing may get subjective but majorly if you need a good-performance electric scooter you can go with the S1 but if you are looking for a budget EV with decent specifications and features the Ola S1 Air would be a right option for you.
But among all the praise we shouldn’t forget the poor customer support history of Ola electric, it holds a bad record of not being able to solve customers’ problems smoothly. You must be aware of the real picture before investing your hard-earned 1 lakh rupees and should make a purchase only if you find its advantages suppressing its disadvantages.
Conclusion:
Ola is ramping up and now it has added 3 electric vehicles to its portfolio the cool part is, every EV holds a great differentiating factor in itself. The full picture of S1 Air vs Ola S1 is in front of you and now you must be able to select what’s best for you wisely.
FAQs:
1. When will Ola S1 Air delivery start
Ola Electric will start delivering its pre-book S1 Air scooters from April 2023.
2. Ola S1 Air or Ola S1 what is better
Ola S1 has higher performance than the S1 Air but the price difference between both is just 15,000 rupees. The S1 Air is more affordable now you can choose anyone.
3. How to pre-book Ola S1 Air
You can pre-book the Ola S1 Air from Ola Electric’s official website just click here
4. Can I drive Ola S1 without license?
A big No! The top speed of Ola S1 is more than 25km/h so you’ll need both registration and license to drive Ola S1 legally.
5. Ola S1 on-road price
Applying all the subsidies from Ola S1 on-road price is 85,099/-
6. Ola S1 real world range:
The true range of Ola S1 is 128km
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