Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal appears on screen during a presentation on August 15, 2021. The company’s EV arm, Ola Electric, plans to launch an electric car in 2024.
Samyukta Lakshmi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The CEO of Ola Electric said on Monday his company will launch an all-electric vehicle capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h (just over 62 mph) in four seconds as the race to break into India’s emerging markets heats up EV sector tightened.
In a video presentation, Bhavish Aggarwal offered a number of details about the Indian-built vehicle.
It would have a range of over 500 kilometers per charge (around 310 miles), an all-glass roof and assisted driving capability. The EV would also be keyless and “handleless”. The company plans to launch the vehicle in 2024.
“Global automakers believe that the Indian market is not ready for world-class technology, so they sell their used technology in India,” he said. This must be changed, he added.
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On Monday, Aggarwal also announced plans to develop what he called a “full-EV hub” by expanding the company’s “Futurefactory” in the state of Tamil Nadu, which is currently focused on the production of two-wheel electric vehicles.
Full-size, he said the expanded facility would produce 1 million cars, 10 million two-wheelers and 100 gigawatt-hours of cells each year. “This…redesigned Ola Futurefactory will be the world’s largest single-site EV ecosystem,” Aggarwal said.
Ola Electric is the EV arm of ride-hailing company Ola, founded in 2011. Both Ola and Ola Electric have attracted investment from SoftBank Group.
India, which is on track to become the world’s most populous country next year, is something of an untapped market when it comes to electric cars, lagging behind China, the European Union and the US
“In Brazil, India and Indonesia, less than 0.5% of car sales are electric,” notes the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook.
Ola’s entry into the Indian electric car market will see it compete with Tata Motors and Mahindra Electric Mobility, among others. According to the IEA, Tata’s Nexon BEV SUV was India’s best-selling electric car in 2021.