Amid Fire Incidents, Ola Electric’s Vehicle Registrations Shrinks 36%

The demand for Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric’s two-wheeler electric vehicles seems to have taken a hit over the last two months as its vehicle registration numbers witnessed a sharp decline month-on-month (MoM). 

The startup saw its vehicle registrations drop over 27% to 9,255 units in May from 12,703 units in April. In June, the registrations of its EVs declined over 36% MoM to 5,883 units, as per data available on the Vahan portal on July 4.

Following the decline in registrations, Ola Electric lost its top position to Okinawa Autotech in May in terms of two-wheeler EV registrations. In June, Ola Electric fell two spots to fourth place as Ampere Vehicles and Hero Electric took the second and third positions, respectively. 

Ola Electric is among the companies driving the EV industry trends in the country. From its scooters catching fire to being involved in other accidents, Ola Electric has grabbed media attention over the past few months. 

The fire incidents also raised safety concerns about EVs and prompted the government to take various actions to address the issue. 

Besides Ola Electric, several other EV original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Okinawa Autotech, Pure EV, and Jitendra EV also saw their vehicles go up in flames.

The decline in Ola Electric’s registration number comes at a time when it has intensified its efforts to launch its electric four-wheeler. In June, the startup unveiled the design of its future electric car at a customer event at the Ola Futurefactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, and is reportedly planning its launch in late 2023.

In September last year, Ola Electric said it had registered record sales worth INR 600 Cr on day 1 of the launch of its Ola S1 and the S1 Pro escooters. As per Vahan data, which has recorded Ola Electric’s vehicle registrations from December 2021, Ola Electric’s vehicle registrations stood at 240 in the last month of the previous year.

In January this year, the number increased to 1,105 units. It grew over 3X to 3,908 units in February and more-than-doubled MoM to 9,140 units in March.

However, the number has been on a decline for the last two months. Its total vehicle registrations in 2022 stand at 42,458 units.

Meanwhile, the government’s investigation in fire incidents involving two-wheeler EVs pointed at faulty batteries, issues with battery management systems (BMS) and several other related problems as the cause. Ola Electric has also received a show cause notice from the government on the fire incidents.

It is pertinent to note that Ola Electric received incentives in March under the government’s $2.4 Bn Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme aimed at boosting the local manufacturing of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries.

Recently, reports also said that the electric mobility startup was in talks with global suppliers across countries such as Korea, Germany, Japan, among others, to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in India, which would have a capacity of up to 50-gigawatt (Gwh) hours.

Aggarwal has also been supportive of the government’s stance to reject global automotive giant Tesla’s requests for a cut in import duties. Aggarwal also took a dig at Tesla and its boss Elon Musk, and batted for India-manufactured EVs earlier.

In his latest comment, Aggarwal said, “Tesla is free to come in and put up a shop here and sell its cars. They just want to be treated differently from others, which I believe is not in the interests of India.”

Meanwhile, other OEMs besides Ola Electric, whose vehicles were involved in the fire incidents, also witnessed a drop in their vehicle registrations in June. On the other hand, companies such as Ather Energy, Ampere Vehicles, and Revolt, among others, saw a rise in their registrations in June.

As per a Mordon Intelligence report, the Indian EV market is expected to reach $15.4 Tn in value by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47.09% during 2022-2027. In 2021, it was valued at $1.4 Tn.