After announcing its entry into the electric vehicle (EV) business through the acquisition of the Netherlands-based electric scooter manufacturer Etergo BV in May 2020, Ola is now set to foray into the New Zealand EV market. Sales of a premium range of e-scooters are likely to commence within a year or so.

The introduction of Ola’s electric scooters will help support the New Zealand government’s goal of on-roading 64,000 new electric vehicles by the end of 2021, while also helping the public sector become carbon neutral by 2025.

Ola’s soon-to-launch electric scooter is part of its electric mobility business which has been set up to design and manufacture high-quality electric two-wheelers. The company is believed to be in advanced stages of setting up the world’s largest scooter factory in India. Once completed, the factory will have the capacity to manufacture over 2 million scooters a year. 

Ola had acquired Etergo earlier this year. Ola’s electric scooter, which is set to launch across several markets around the world, has already won several design and innovation awards around the world, including at Consumer Electronic Show (CES) and the German Design Awards.

Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO, Ola, said: “We welcome and strongly support the move by the  Prime Minister and the New Zealand government towards carbon neutrality, especially in the mobility sector. We are excited about bringing our electric two- wheelers to New Zealand to further accelerate development of sustainable solutions. Climate change is a serious challenge and Ola is committed to moving the world to sustainable mobility through our products.” 

Brian Dewil, Managing Director, Ola NZ said the government’s climate emergency announcement puts more responsibility on transport providers to step up and make changes. “Ola wants to play an important part in New Zealand’s journey to become carbon neutral. We’ve witnessed strong and steady growth in the e-scooter and e-bike sector so we believe Ola’s new scooter product will be welcomed by consumers as a way to contribute towards establishing a zero-carbon economy."

According to Bakar Sadik Agwan, Senior Automotive Consulting Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, ““Ola’s choice of New Zealand as the first market to foray seems to be a right move. The company would be significantly benefitted by its existing presence in the New Zealand through its shared mobility business, making it an insider rather than outsider. In addition, the appetite for electric mobility and micro-mobility has been growing fast in New Zealand and the country has been witnessing multi-fold increase in demand for products including e-bikes, e-scooters and other electric two-wheeler range. Finally, conducive government policies also drive the use of electric vehicles to reduce tailpipe emissions.

“Ola’s foray into New Zealand electric scooter market will support government’s target of brining 64,000 new electric vehicles on road by 2021 and becoming carbon neutral by 2025. Apart from selling outright products to customers, significant opportunities also exist for Ola to explore other ownership models including leasing, subscription and its core shared mobility services such as scooter sharing/rental and bike e-hailing," he added.

Earlier this year, Ola announced plans of hiring over 2,000 people for its electric business as it rapidly builds a suite of electric and smart urban mobility solutions for consumers around the world. Ola Electric has raised about US$ 400 million in funding from Tiger Global, Matrix India, Tata Sons chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and others.

Also read: Ola Electric appoints GM veteran to set up its manufacturing plants in India

Ola Electric acquires Amsterdam-based Etergo, to launch e-2W for India in 2021