Thread by @TheKenWeb

Ola’s competitor is not who you think it is.

A Thread.

1/16

Imagine you run a restaurant.
You have two choices - Time or Quality.

You also hear that a renowned restaurateur is setting up his shop near you. He has the expertise and he has hired new chefs - it is just that the location is new for him.

2/16

If you pick time over quality, customers might frown,
If you pick quality over time, your rival might take away your customers.

What would you do?

In a way, this is the dilemma faced by Ola Electric today.

3/16

Amidst much fanfare, Ola electric launched its S1 and S1 Pro models on August 15, 2021 promising deliveries by October.

It has been 3 months, and customers still haven’t received their vehicles.

4/16

Industry executives, however, don’t expect deliveries to begin before March 2022.

If Ola does start delivering before then, they fear customers would receive a substandard vehicle.

5/16

Ola is on a mission. If it manages to pull it off, it would irreversibly change the Indian automotive industry.

But the question is, is the company trying to bite more than it can chew?

6/16

At @TheKenWeb, we have been closely following the remarkable journey of Ola Electric for a long-long time.

7/16

ICYMI, in our March 2021 story, @prnvbal and @OBanerji wrote, building an automobile is different from anything Ola has done in the past.
It requires patience, direction, and constancy.

Ola Electric has had little of these since its inception.

7/16
the-ken.com/story/the-spee…

It is true that the Automotive Industry is notoriously resistant to change, and has always been slow to evolve.

But times have changed, Petrol prices are still way too high and the Government is increasingly championing the EV industry.

8/16

As they say, the time is ripe for EV investments.

However, that is not the case with everyone.
While Ola Electric and Ather are cresting the electric two-wheeler wave, other startups in the space are running on fumes.

9/16

With investors reluctant to back anyone in a fight against Ola Electric and Ather (Ola's closest rival), most of the early startups in the space have pivoted to other lines of business to keep the lights on, wrote @prnvbal in our June 2021 story.

10/16

the-ken.com/story/why-noth…

Tork Motors, a decade-old company that was once the flag-bearer for electric bikes in India, is now making components for three-wheelers.

Bengaluru-based Emflux Motors is now making ceiling fans and face shields

11/16

Back to Ola’s Dilemma.

Ola Electric says the deliveries of the S1 and S1 Pro models will begin “soon”. The second purchase window has also been pushed to mid-December from 1 November.

But sources reveal, many of the Ola S1’s promised features are yet to be added.

12/16

But why is Ola Electric in a hurry? Two main reasons:

1) The parent company, Ola is gunning for an initial public offering (IPO) when the stock markets are on a bull run.
Also Ather Energy, has reportedly advanced its IPO plans and could go public in the next two years.

13/16

2) The EV race is heating up - While smaller startups are struggling to find backers, traditional two-wheeler makers like Hero MotoCorp and TVS have started making their moves.
Shared mobility company Bounce also recently announced the launch of its electric scooter.

14/16

Insider sources reveal that the number of glitches in the scooter is alarming.

They believe customers would rather prefer delayed delivery than receive a substandard product. Their biggest worry is customers identifying bugs and errors before the company does.

15/16

In today’s insightful story, @prnvbal reports, the stakes are high for Ola electric.

If the company messes up its first vehicle, it could end up derailing all its future ambitions which includes an electric motorbike and an electric car.

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the-ken.com/story/the-haza…