Ola Electric Begins Roadster X Delivery After Two Months Of Delay
According to people aware of the matter, Ola Electric Roadster X motorcycle received a homologation certificate barely hours before deliveries started.
Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. commenced delivery of its much-delayed Roadster X motorcycle on Friday, after the homologation certificate arrived just hours earlier.
“Scooters were just the beginning. The Roadster X is a bold step marking our entry into the motorcycling segment,” Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman and managing director at the EV firm, said in a statement. “With deliveries starting today, Roadster X will unlock the true potential of EVs in 2W category, accelerating EV adoption and penetration to #EndICEAge.”
The Ola Roadster X was first unveiled on Feb. 5 for deliveries to commence by mid-March. That, however, wasn’t to be as the motorcycle hadn’t achieved homologation at least by early March, according to an NDTV Profit report. Subsequently, Ola Electric revised the delivery date to April and then again to March, raising questions on its roadworthiness.
According to people aware of the matter, the homologation certificate was delivered via email, barely hours before the delivery commenced on Friday. Until 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, not one Roadster X motorcycle was ready for dispatch to customers.
The Roadster X was also integral to sales mismatch in February.
In a letter to India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on March 21, Ola Electric said it added customer bookings of 1,395 Roadster X motorcycles in its February sales data, citing them as “confirmed orders”. They hadn’t even rolled off the assembly line yet.
As per Indian laws, deliveries of vehicles registered on the government’s VAHAN website are counted in monthly sales. The Roadster X finally broke cover on April 11, and deliveries have commenced now.
The Ola Roadster X gets three battery-pack options—2.5 kWh, 3.5 kWh and 4.5 kWh—with prices ranging from Rs 99,999 to Rs 1,24,999, ex-showroom Bengaluru. The EV is equipped with a mid-drive motor, a chain drive, and integrated microcontroller unit for “efficient torque transfer, superior acceleration and improved range”. The traditional electrical harness has been done away with for a flat cable.
According to the company, the motorcycle also gets brake-by-wire with a single-channel anti-lock braking system, as well as regeneration, cruise control and reverse mode via the MoveOS operating system. The battery management system is serviceable for easy maintenance.
