The EV unit of Ola i.e. Ola Electric is prepping to install its charging units in India to develop its Hypercharger Network. The homegrown firm plans to establish 1,00,000 electric vehicle chargers across 400 Indian cities in the next five years. However, the Hypercharger Network will be only for two-wheeler EVs.
SoftBank-backed Ola Electric has its initial plan to set up 5000 EV charging stations across 100 cities until the financial year 2021-22. Though, the first electric scooter from the company is still awaited and scheduled to debut in July 2021. Meanwhile, Ola Electric intends to have charging stations before their electric scooter runs on the road.
ALSO READ: Tesla entry in India to boost the government’s global electric vehicles manufacturing hub ambitions
Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO at Ola said “We believe that this kind of speed of charging and the access that we will build by having so many points will take away the anxiety of owning an electric vehicle. It will launch in sync with our scooters, so whichever cities we launch our scooters in, our charging network will be present there before that.”
ALSO READ: Flipkart to switch to electric vehicle logistics fleet by 2030 for a sustainable solution
The Hypercharger Network will involve chargers as vertical towers and standalone. The latter format will be installed in public places. The Ola electric scooters will be delivered to the end-consumers with a compatible charger to be used at homes. The indigenous firm will invest an estimated cost of $2 billion over this project.
Each of the Hypercharger Network stations will boast a 12 kilowatts capacity customized for two-wheelers which Ola Electric may modify after later advancements. The charger will fuel up the EVs from zero to 50% in 18 minutes enabling them to run for 74 km more.
The first Ola electric scooter is being manufactured at Ola Futurefactory, Tamil Nadu with paced efficiency. The company has revealed that they are focussing on an affordable and sustainable solution such that their electric scooters could be accessed by a large population.
