Ola to launch EV cab services

The new premium fleet will be operated by top-rated drivers and will provide benefits like 100% ride assurance post allocation of the cab

Ride-hailing company Ola Cabs said on Wednesday that it will be launching a premium electric vehicle (EV) category with a fleet of 10,000 cars. It is in the final stages of rolling out the pilot of the new category in the coming weeks, a statement issued by the taxi service, informed.

The new premium fleet will be operated by top-rated drivers and will provide benefits like 100 per cent ride assurance post allocation of the cab, zero cancellations and 100 per cent cashless payments for a seamless consumer experience, the statement added.

This comes less than five months after Ola’s Chief Executive Officer Bhavish Aggarwal had hinted at electrifying Ola’s ride-hailing fleet, to bring the business in line with the company’s overall vision of driving a revolution in electric mobility.

“Electrification of the ride-hailing fleet is the next frontier for the industry and a huge step in the direction of the future of mobility,” Aggarwal said in Wednesday’s statement.

Experts said the move was timely.

“Addition of EVs in its fleet appears to be the logical next step for Ola. Ride-hailing is its core business, and for now, there are competitive reasons for this move,” said Suraj Ghosh, Director, of Powertrain & Compliance Forecasts, South Asia, S&P Global Mobility.

Ola faces competition from a few other ride-sharing platforms in this segment.

In October 2022, Uber - Ola’s biggest competitor in India - started running a pilot using electric cabs in select regions of the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR).

In June 2022, Ahmedabad-based company BluSmart Electric Mobility placed an order for 10,000 TATA XPRES-T EV cars with India’s largest electric carmaker Tata Motors. BluSmart EV cab services are widely used in the NCR region.

However, Ola’s Aggarwal was confident that its in-house core technologies and products can be leveraged in the ride-hailing business and give the company a “very strong competitive advantage”.

Ola’s electric car development & manufacturing ambitions will complement its plans to electrify cab services, Ghosh said. “And lastly, not to forget the novelty factor and positive impact of such an announcement on its sustainability agenda,” he added.