2022 will be remembered as the year India’s EV revolution truly took off. From just 4000 units a month in June 2021, the monthly run rate reached 80,000 units towards the end of 2022, a 20x growth. From less than 1% penetration in 2021, to almost 6% in just a year, the EV revolution in India has not only been restricted to the urban centers, but is proving to be a pan India phenomenon! In fact, many cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Surat, etc already have an EV penetration of almost 20%.

The customer preference for EVs across tier 1, 2, 3 cities and rural centers showed us that the market in India had always existed, ready to embrace EVs – the new, superior technology. 

Today, it is India’s opportunity to seize the 21st century. Our ambitions and plans, at Ola, have been inspired by this opportunity that India has to become a global hub for EVs. We started our journey on 15th August 2021 with our announcement of our first scooter and the construction of the world’s largest 2W plant. It’s only been 15 months and Ola is already the largest EV company in India both by revenue and volume, as well as the fastest growing one! We have sold almost 1,50,000 EVs this year and are working towards our Mission Electric – all 2Ws and all cars sold in India by 2030 to be electric.

We have a 3 step strategy to build this future:

1. Product diversification and Global scale manufacturing:  Electrifying 2Ws allows us to build large global scale and competitive capabilities in core technologies, supply chains and infra like charging infra etc. Once all of India’s 20 Mn 2Ws are electrified, India will become the third largest market for EVs in the world (measured by GWh consumed – 100GWh), behind only US and China. This foundation of 2Ws will be a strong competitive advantage as we move into electrifying 4Ws. 2022 was the year of scaling up our premium scooter, the Ola S1. We have achieved complete electrification of the premium scooter market (priced more than ₹ 1,00,000) in just 1 year. In 2023 and 2024, we will launch many more 2W EV products – a mass market scooter, a mass market motorcycle, and multiple premium motorcycles (sports, cruisers, adventure and road bikes). This strong scale of 2W manufacturing gives us a very strong competitive advantage across core EV technologies and supply chains in software, electronics, batteries and power trains and will enable us to make world class 4W products at very competitive price points. Our first car will be launched in 2024, and by 2027, we will have 6 different products in the market.

2. Vertical integration into cell technologies and localizing relevant supply chains: Our focus on the core cell technology started 2 years ago, and in 2022 we started operations at our Battery Innovation Center – a world class facility that will enable more than 1,000 researchers to work on the future of cell tech and build our own IP. By the end of 2023, we will commission our cell manufacturing plant with a 5GWh capacity, with an ambition to install 100GWh over the course of this decade. Our own technology, and a localised supply chain gives us a strong competitive advantage over other global and Indian companies.