More affordable Ola S1 may be launched this year

Earlier this year, we reported that Ola Electric had decided to focus its energies on the top-spec S1 Pro scooter, and that production for the base S1 model would only begin in late 2022. 

Now, company founder Bhavish Aggarwal has revealed that the company would launch the base S1 later this year and that it might even come at a lower price than originally promised. 

When the Ola scooter prices were originally revealed in August 2021, the company stated that the S1 Pro would cost Rs 1.29 lakh (ex-showroom, including FAME II subsidy), while the S1 would be priced at Rs 99,999.

At the time of launch, the differences between the two were significant, with the S1 getting a smaller battery size, comparatively lower performance and fewer features. While the S1 Pro claimed a range of 181km (which the company later revised to 135km ‘true range’), the S1 claimed a range of 121km, which means its true range should be similar to the Ather 450X. The S1 uses a 2.98kWh unit, while the S1 Pro gets a 3.97kWh battery. In comparison, the Ather 450X has a battery capacity of 2.9kWh. 

Performance on the S1 is also lower and, once again, closer to the Ather 450X. The S1 has a claimed top speed of 90kph, while Ola claimed a top speed of 115kph for the S1 Pro. Both scooters claim an impressive torque figure of 58Nm.

The Ola S1 gets two riding modes – Normal and Sports – while the S1 Pro gets the additional Hyper. Ola will also be introducing an Eco mode in its upcoming Move OS 2.1 software update. While the S1 uses the same large TFT display, it misses out on some of the Pro’s functions like hill hold, cruise control and voice assistant – all of which are yet to arrive via OTA updates, as of writing this.

Our recent comparison review between with the Ola S1 Pro and the Ather 450X highlighted that the Ola scooter still has thermal throttling issues, which we first spoke about at the launch ride in November. We found that it significantly restricts performance after being ridden in its top Hyper mode for more than a few minutes, and it does so till the temperatures have come down. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see if the lower powered S1 is able to perform more consistently.