Ola Electric e-scooter to be home delivered to customers; check out full details

The latest entrant in the electric scooter business, Ola Electric, is set to adopt the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales model for its e-scooter, Series S.

Ola Electric, which claims to be a tech-mobility startup instead of vehicle manufacturer, will provide doorstep delivery and servicing of its e-scooters, eliminating the need to set up a conventional dealership network, which would be a resource-intensive exercise, Firstpost reported.

Ola has set up a separate logistics department to facilitate the direct purchase process, allowing customers to complete documentation, loan applications and other related steps online.

The logistics team will ensure the scooter is registered and delivered directly to the buyer's home. Though luxury carmakers like Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover have facilitated home delivery of vehicles to their customers for a while now, Ola will be the first player to execute such a large scale model.

The company recently made waves as it opened bookings for Series S, receving one lakh requests within 25 hours. The e-scooter is likely to be priced in the range of Rs 80,000-1,10,000 for Ola S1 and Ola S1 Pro models.

This approach would save Ola the resources required to set up an expansive retail chain, implying the company can meet demand in almost any location across the country.

Regardless of the location, those who want to buy the Ola e-scooter will be able to do so with ease. Ola is also expected to open 'experience centres' for potential customers to check the e-scooter out in person and go for a test ride.

However, without a full-fledged sales and service network, many people may have reasonable concerns regarding after-sales support. Considering the company's approach of selling online, those concerns could easily be addressed by providing remote service support to customers.

Ola could simply arrange for service staff to visit a customer at their residence and carry out any maintenance work that may be needed.

Moreover, Ola Electric claims to have charging stations in more than 100 cities and intends to gradually expand to more than 400 cities. The e-scooters can be charged using a standard 5A socket or at one of its 'Hypercharger' charging stations.

In India, Mercedes Benz will attempt this model later in 2021, while Tesla has globally followed the same model as well.

(Edited by Rupashree Ravi)

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