Review: Ola S1 – Say ‘Ola’ to The New Revolution!

Overview

Unlike a majority of the electric two-wheelers coming off from a relatively new start-up, the Ola S1 promises a lot on its shoulders. It had already built up a lot of anticipation much before its launch, with 1 lakh people making an advance booking of the scooter within 24 hours of the moment of commencement of reservations.

The Ola S1 has finally made its debut in India, and as expected, it has re-written the rule book of electric scooters by bringing in a number of first-in-class features and much advanced mechanicals over its direct rivals. 

Variants and Price

The Ola S1 has been made available in the Indian market in two different variants – the S1 and S1 Pro. While the S1 has a starting price of just under a shade of lakh rupees at Rs. 99,999, the more premium and powerful S1 Pro carries a price tag of Rs. 1,29,999. Taking in the recent subsidies of central and state governments, the entry-level pricing of the S1 can reach as low as Rs. 85,000.

Engine and Specifications

The 8.5 kW electric motor of the Ola S1 has made it the most powerful electric scooter of the country. The motor is capable enough to make the Ola S1 hit a maximum speed of 90 kmph, which can go up to 115 kmph in the S1 Pro variant. The time taken by the Ola S1 to touch the 40 kmph mark from standstill is 3.6 seconds, with the S1 Pro being even quicker with a time of 3 seconds for the same purpose.

The Ola S1 comes with two drive modes as standard – ‘normal’ and ‘sport’. The S1 Pro, in addition, has a third riding mode in the form of ‘hyper’ for full-blown performance experience.

Mileage

In a single charge, the Ola S1 can cover a distance of 121 km, with the more premium S1 Pro claiming a maximum riding range of 181 km. Both these range claims are the highest in electric scooter category.

The battery can be charged completely in 6 hours with the help of a 750W portable charger, which is provided with the scooter. However, using the more sophisticated ‘hypercharger’ fast charging station, which Ola Electric has setup in 1000+ cities, it can be charged up to 50 per cent in just 18 minutes.

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Handling and Braking

Like most of the other electric scooters, the Ola S1 too rides on 12-inch wheels. However, the 110/70-12 tubeless tyres of the S1 are the broadest tyres an electric scooter has ever got in India. The scooter comes fitted with disc brakes at both the ends, which give it a superior braking power.

Dimensions

While the Ola S1 might look like a compact light-weighted scooter from a distance, the largest motor and battery have taken a toll on its overall weight. The Ola S1 tips the weighing scales at 121 kg, with the S1 Pro weighing four more kilos at 125 kg.

Colors

The color options of white, sky blue, red, yellow and matte black are standard ones in both S1 and S1 Pro variants. However, the more premium Ola S1 Pro also comes with additional color options of grey, matte grey, black, pink and dark blue.

Design and Features

For the S1, Ola Electric has carried out a safe and minimalist approach, when it comes to design. The overall look of the scooter is simple, but not boring by any angle. The rounded and curvy theme of the front apron and side body panels make it look chic. The scooter looks even more attractive in the trendy and flashy color options, which truly highlight its eye-catching design.

Where the Ola S1 really hits the ball out of the park is the list of features it packs in – there are plenty of it. The main highlight of the scooter is the large 7-inch touch-sensitive screen for the instrument console. This console is a home to all the basic conventional data on the go as well as an in-built navigation system. It also supports Bluetooth connectivity and voice commands, through which one can control a number of functions of the scooter, including music streaming, navigation and phone calls. Yes, the scooter also has a music system with in-built speakers!

Additional features of the screen here are four different display modes – Bold, Care, Vintage and Wonder – each of which have different cool looking themes which are termed as ‘moods’. There is a dedicated smartphone application, through which one can check out a number of real-time functions, such as location tracking, battery health alerts, scheduling a door-step service appointment and set alerts for area limit, time fence, speed limit and restriction of drive modes.

Other highlights of the scooter are LED illumination for headlamps, tail lamp and turn indicators, largest-in-segment 50 liters of under-seat storage compartment, hill hold assist, cruise control and keyless ignition with proximity based locking and unlocking of the scooter.

Competition

Currently, the Ola S1 electric scooter takes on the pioneers of the premium electric scooter category, such as Ather 450X, Bajaj Chetak, TVS iQube and Okinawa i-Praise+.

Verdict

The cutesy design, powerful powertrain and best-in-class list of features assure that the Ola S1 is here to stay long and make a big mark in the segment of electric scooters.