Ola factory construction begins

Ola has commenced construction and expects the first phase of its electric two-wheeler facility in Tamil Nadu to become operational in the coming months. The company is building its electric two-wheeler factory, billed as the largest in the world, on a 500-acre site in the state.

• The factory is expected to create 10,000 jobs

• It will have an annual capacity of 2 million units

• The manufacturing facility will cater to exports as well

Back in December 2020, Ola inked an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government for an investment of Rs 2,400 crore to set up its first factory in the state. The company completed land acquisition in January this year and has commenced construction. 

Ola’s scooter manufacturing facility

Ola claims, upon completion, the factory will create almost 10,000 jobs and will be the world’s largest scooter manufacturing facility, which will initially have an annual capacity of 2 million units. The company says it aims to catalyse reduction of India’s import dependence in a key future sector like electric vehicles, boost local manufacturing, create jobs as well as improve the technical expertise in the country.

The manufacturing facility will cater to customers not only in India but in markets around the world including Europe, Asia, Latin America, and more. It is gearing up to launch the first of its range of highly anticipated electric scooters in the coming months.

Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman and Group CEO, Ola said, ‘‘We are excited to announce our plans to set up the world’s largest scooter factory. This is a significant milestone for Ola and a proud moment for our country as we rapidly progress towards realising our vision of moving the world to sustainable mobility solutions across shared and owned mobility. This will be one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world. This factory will showcase India’s skill and talent to produce world class products that will cater to global markets.”

Ola and the Etergo AppScooter

The facility will produce Ola’s upcoming range of two-wheeler products starting with the Etergo AppScooter, which the company acquired in early May. 

A relatively new start-up, Etergo was founded in 2015 and the company’s AppScooter has won multiple awards at CES 2019 and the Automotive Brand Contest in Germany, among others. 

The Etergo AppScooter uses swappable high energy density batteries to deliver a claimed range of up to 240km, depending on how many battery modules are used. The AppScooter also has a claimed 0-45kph time of 3.9 seconds, an underseat storage capacity of 50 litres and TFT instrumentation.

The scooter was seen testing last month, and it looks very similar to the Etergo AppScooter and it even gets the same unusual single telescopic front suspension. It is likely that we will get an updated version of this Etergo scooter, with changes made for our riding environment and also to keep costs low.

Sources suggest that the Ola scooter can reach speeds in excess of 100kph and also cover over 100km on a single charge. The scooter is likely to have a similar banana-shaped removable lithium-ion battery pack as seen in the Etergo scooter, but what the final capacity will be remains to be confirmed.

Also see:

Ola Electric scooter spotted testing