Ola To Pilot EV Cab Service In Bengaluru With 1,000 Cars

Update: January 4, 07:15 PM

Ola has announced its entry into the premium EV category with a fleet of 10,000 cars. The company said it is in the final stages of rolling out the pilot of the new category in the coming weeks.

Ola’s new premium fleet will be operated by the top rated drivers, and will provide benefits like 100% ride assurance post allocation of the cab, zero cancellations, and 100% cashless payments, the company said in a statement.

“Electrification of the ride hailing fleet is the next frontier for the industry and a huge step in the direction of the future of mobility.  Our roadmap of developing in-house core technologies and products that can be leveraged across group level gives us a very strong competitive advantage in the ride hailing business,” Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ola Electric, said.

Amid increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country, ride-hailing company Ola is reportedly planning to pilot an EV cab service in Bengaluru with 1,000 cars.

The EV service will be available on the Ola app itself as a separate category besides regular cabs and autos, the Economic Times reported. Starting with 1,000, the company aims to take the number of EV cabs to 10,000 in a year in the city.

Ola would procure cars and lease them out to drivers. They will have fixed income along with variable pay, the report said.

Interestingly, Ola is planning to offer the EV service as a “premium offering” which will not have cancellations by drivers. Cancellation by drivers after booking a cab is one of the major issues faced by customers in the Indian ride-hailing market. 

In October last year, Ola’s rival Uber also began piloting EV cab services in some parts of Delhi-NCR. Besides, BluSmart also provides EV cabs in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.

Ola’s move comes at a time when the sale of EV sales is on the rise in the country. As per Vahan data, tthe total number of electric vehicles registered in 2022 stood at 10 Lakh units, up 300% from the 3.2 Lakh units registered in 2021. In addition, Ola Electric registered 1,09,252 units of electric vehicles in the year.

With climate change emerging as a major concern over the last few years, governments of almost all countries across the globe have been encouraging the growth of the EV industry. 

In India, the Centre has been giving subsidies to promote adoption of EVs. Besides, it has also come out with a production linked incentive scheme to boost domestic manufacturing of EV batteries. Various state governments have also introduced EV policies to give a boost to EV adoption.

Meanwhile, Ola Electric, Ola’s EV arm, plans to launch multiple electric two-wheeler products, including premium motorcycles, over the next two years. The startup also aims to launch its electric car in 2024.

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