We at PlugInCaroo strongly feel that the loss in sales in Ola has occured due to 2 BIG reasons:

1. 1. BaaS effect: Ather and Hero deployed BaaS Offer which reduces price of the vehicle by almost 50%. So …

a Rs 146,000 scooter becomes available for Rs 76,000. Also the customers are not responsible for anything that happens with the battery. If battery gets some problem it gets replaced ASAP. Simple….

BUT the catch is… you end up paying MORE with BaaS.

BaaS is Rs 2 for every km you ride… BUT you have to pay a MINIMUM 1,000km per mth… meaning you pay more … you pay for 1,000kms even if you did just 500kms that month.

BaaS is the Netflix for scooters… BaaS shits GOLD for the eScooter companies… meaning they will get paid… for the scooter and also for the ride… forever… as long as the scooter lasts.

BaaS is the best subscription model EVER… better than NetFlix.

But unfortunately Ola refused to join this BaaS gold run. Bhavish had justified that more or less it is the same.

He might have meant to say in BaaS customers pay Rs 4,200 every month (Rs 2,000 EMI and Rs 2,000 for BaaS + Rs 200 for Recharging) while Ola customers pay just Rs 3,700 (Rs 3,500 for EMI + Rs 200 for Recharging).

But mentally BaaS paints a very different picture. Customers feel they are getting a 50% discount AND they no longer have to fear the unknown… the battery.

2. Lack of 80km range eScooter in Ola:

With the introduction of BaaS Ola eScooters once the cheapest eScooter suddenly became the MOST PREMIUM COLLECTION… Ola is busy launching longer and longer range scooters.

OLA COMPLETELY IGNORED the shorter range scooters.

Most of the eScooter customers are from lower middler class and thus are very price sensitive and move towards the cheapest product available in the market.

In the early days most eScooters just had 80kms range… that was the time Ola reigned supreme.

Lower range = Lower Cost…

eScooter=Lower Middleclass

therefore Lower Range is PERFECT for lower middle class... unfortunately LOWER MIDDLE CLASS is more in India… than upper middle class.

Thus LACK OF GIG-Scooter and Z-Series scooter combined with no BaaS model had dented Ola’s Sales.

The delay has cost Ola a lot. We at PlugInCaroo sincerely feel Ola must FOCUS to launch Gig and ZSeries and POSTPONE all other Motorcycle launches after that.

We at PlugInCaroo also strongly feel that Ola must cancel the DiamondHead project and not waste resources on such a useless project. The safety and AI would be bettter utilises on eRickshaw or Small eCar.

Maybe some time in future when Ola has enough resources and is in profits it can think about experimenting. But then there are other much better fruitfull things to experiment on… like Drones, eVTOLs and eFishingBoats.

This could well be the last Quarter before Ola moves into profit as we expect Ola to sell well in ShaktiUPS and since none of the cities in India get 24×7 electricity… except Mumbai.

We also feel that… more Indians would want to have 24×7 electricity than want eScooters… and also the fact that those who buy escooters from other company will need Ola Shakti to charge their eScooter whenever there is powercut.

Thus more people will need to buy Ola Shakti than Ola eScooters… so Ola Shakti could achive at least as much sales as it does in eScooters.

Of late Ola has been averaging around 6,000-7,000 eScootee sales per month… so ideally Shakti should be selling around 7,000 units per month.

If this happens then the Revenue would double and its loss will disappear because the price of each shakti is as much as an Ola eScooter/eMotorcycle.

3. The biggest drawback was the now usual late entry of new products… All 3 … Roadster, Bharat Cells and Ola Shakti entered the market much after the Dec Quarter…although announced 3 months ago.

Bhavish had promised Diwali delivery… but the products made it home only after New Year… the 1st Ola Shakti which was expected in Makar Sankranti… made it home by Valentine’s week.

3 mths delay is the norm at Ola Electric … take it or leave it… Plus last 6 mths nothing much seemed to have happened at Ola … Or Ola was busy firefighter… as they seemed to be getting their servicing act… parts and battery replacement in order.

But once enough of the 3 – Roadster, Bharat Cells and Ola Shakti hit the market comming quarter things could be better for Ola.

Q4 is the litmus test for Ola Electric… If it performs badly in Q4 it will LOSE A LOT OF SHAREHOLDER SUPPORT.

So Ola NEEDS TO BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL which product it launches NEXT… pls don’t send a premium Gavaskar or Dravid when asking run rate is above 10 when you have SKY in the team.

Will Q4 with Ola Shakti sales be start of the good times for Ola?

Only time can tell… and … TIME ALWAYS TELL.