The Rise and Wobble of India’s EV Pioneer Ola

It was Once The Indian Start-Up World’s Shining Star, BUT Ola Is Now Battling Crises Of Aultling.

Founded in 2010, Quickly a Household name, Expanding From Ride-Hailing to Electric Vehicles and Battery Cells, Challenging Uber Along The Way.

The Company Jumped on The AI ​​Bandwagon 2023 With Krutrim, India’s First AI Company Valued at $ 1bn.

Marquee Global Investors Such as Japan’s softbank, US-Based Tiger Global and Singapore’s Temas bankrrolled this expansion. Last Year, Ola’s Electric Vehicles (EV) Arm Raised Close to $ 734m (£ 567m) in A Blockbuster Initial Public Offering (IPO), India’s Biggest in 2024.

But this Ambitious Rise has been by a series of Controversies of the Series Lanely, Particularly at Ev Arm.

Ola Electric has lost close to 70% of IT Value in The Seven Months Since the IPO Was. It is facing competition from More Established Two-Wheeler Giants, Along Mounting Regulatory Scrutiny.

Sales of Ola’s Scooters Are Down to Less Than Half From April Last Year and the Company’s Losses Have Widened. Customers Have Posted on Social Media Ola Scooters Going Up in Flames or Breaking Down Mid-Ride.

There’s a Government Inquiry Under Way At Newly-Open Ola Showrooms Regarding Licens and Registrations. One of I Its Vendors Filed An Insolvency Ple Against The Company, which Ola Said in a statement to stock Exchange That It Had Settled.

The BBC has learned from former Employees and Industry Sources That Delayed Payments Have Led to Major Suppliers And Logistics Partners Ending Ties With Them.

Ola has been cutting jobs, restructuring operations and automation functions in a bid to reduce costs and trim leses. Media Reports Say It has been Undertaken A Second Round Of Layoffs Since November, With Over 1,000 Roles Axed.

The BBC Sent Detailed Questions to Ola About These Issues. The Company Shared Links to SOME OF EARLIER PRESS statements, not responding specifically to all the Queries.

So, What’s Gone Wrong?

Ola CEO Bhavish AGgarwal Positioned The Company As Tesla’s Two-Wheeler Equivalent, Solving The Emissions Problem For The Price-Sensitive Indian Market.

He Poured in Millions of Marketing Dollars, Opening Ola Showrooms Across India, Even Delivering Scooters at The Doorstep of People Who’d Made Online Bookings.

But Ola has struggled to read the Market Well, says Rohit Paradkar, Analyst Analyst Auto Magazine Overdrive.

Its Scooter Is Modelled On The AppPsCooter From The EtherGo, a Dutch Start-Up That Ola Electric Acquired in 2020.

Several Former Employees Told The BBC That Ola’s First Ev Scooter was launched WITHOUT Many Changes to EtherGo’s Version. A former Employee Who Worked The Compliance Department Told The BBC That Rushed There Rushed Through To Meet Unrealistic Launch Deadlines.

In Response to Queries, Ola Referred to October 2023 Blog post Where addressed The “Myth” That The Vehicle Had “Not Been Engineered And Tested for India”. It said it had “Fully re-Engineered” EtherGo’s Scooter and Tested for “Indian Conditions”.

“The Whole Vehicle has been tested at Three Levels, digital simulations, Component Tests and Vehicular Lab Tests,” Vehicular Field Tests, “It Said In The Post.

But Several Safety-Related Incidents Bolded by Customers Have Raised Questions.

Some Scooters Began Catching Fire, Saying Auto Experts, Was Likely Due to Short-Circuits or Faulty Batchery Management System.

Ola recalled more than 1,400 first-generation scooters in 2022 to Investigate The Fires, But The Report Was Not publicly released. It Had then the Battery Systems Were Compliant For Indian and European Standards BUT Didn’t Explain What Caused The Fires.

Some riders reported the Front Suspension – which holds the Wheel in Place – Breaking Mid-Ride, Causing Injuries.

In Early 2023, After Such An Accident, Ola Called It A Rare Case, Noting There Only A Few Such IsSues Among 150,000 scooters.

The Front Fork Arm, Thy Said, Had A Significant Safety Margin and Was Designed To Handle 80% More Load Than What It Would Typically During Daily Use.

Meanwhile, Ola’s Rivals – Mostly Established Automakers – Have Rolled Out Electric Scooters Smoothly, Adding to The Pressure On The Company.

Their Entry Shook The Market. Ola’s Share Had plunged from 52% to 19% December, then recovered to 25% in January.

Ola Aims to Sell 50,000 Units Profitable Turn, But Analysts Doubt, Despite The Company Saying Recent Restructuring has helped it $ 10m Monthly Savings and Faster Deliveries.

Government Date Shows That Less Than 10,000 Scooters Were Sold, But Ola Claims 25,000, Blaming Registration Delay Deys Delay Dueys Dueys Vendor Contract Changes. The Federal Transport Ministry hased the Notices Over The Discrepancy. Ola Said It Registered Over 23,000 Scooters Sold in March and Held A 30% Market Share For The Fiscal Year.

But Competing Features With Features Are Now Outselling Ola Simply Because Thyme From Trey, Well-Established Brands, Said Jay Street, Executive Vice-President and Auto Analyst at Elara Capital.

To Push Sales, Ola hasered Deep discounts, Launching Newer Models at Cheaper Price Points. But Losses have widened to $ 65m in the October-December Quarter from $ 43.6ma Year.

Besides Product Issues, The Reliability of Its Customer Service has been Another Major Issue, Says Street.

When Angry Customers Flooded Social Media and Consumer Hellines With The Fires And Front Suspension, Their Service Requests were reportedly unansedly unanswered for days.

At One Point, Thousands of Compaints Were Piling Up Monthly, A former Employee at Ola Told The BBC. India’s Consumer Rights Agency, The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), Also sent to Ola After It got 10,000 Complains over The Period of A Year.

But Semce Ola Had Esshewed The Established Dealer Route Directly Buyers and Had Just A Few Service Centers, Aggrieved Consumers Had Few Places to Turn.

Late Last Year, Ola Wrote to The CCPA That It Had A “Robust Mechanism To Address Complaints”, and That Most Raised With The Regulator Had Be Satisfactory RestoLved.

Aggarwal Was Initially Dissive Media Announced That Ola Would Be Open Nearly 4,000 Stores Facilities Facilities, Following A Public Exchange Who Took Up Customers Who Took Up Customers.

A Majority of New Centers, Howwever, Came Under The Government’s Scanner for Lacking Relevant Licenses to Store and Sell Vehicles.

On 21 March, Ola Confirmed Investigations in Four States and Said It Was Responding to Authorities.

The Sharp Turn in Ola’s Fortunes Is Making Investors – Especially Those Who Bought In High Ipo Valulations – Nervous.

Ola has been a key player in India’s push to cut carbon emissions and expand manufacturing.

It benefits from Two Separate State Subsidies, One to Make Scooters And The Second to Set Up UNS 20 Gigawatt EV Battery Plant. BUT Reuters has begun reported That The Costly Gigafactory Project is Delayed and Has Missed A Key Milestone, Potentially Leading To Penaltyties.

Critics Say Ola’s Troubles From Typical Culture Issues That PLAGUE MANY START-UPS – INCLUDING CEO-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING, Constant Pivots and Unrealistic, High-Pressure Deadlines.

“Software Mindsets Don’t Hardware Products, What Need Time to Build,” Said Deepesh Rathore, Who Used To Head Product Strategy Ola Electric and Now Runs Consultancy Firm Insight Ev.

Some Top Executives Across The Wider Company Have Recently, Including A former Ola Cab CEO Who Quit Within Months. Key Leaders in Tech, Marketing, Sales and Business Also Left Last Year.

Experts Say The Exits Have Affected Ola’s Efforts To Fix Product and Service Issues.

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