Ola S1 Electric Scooter Purchase Delayed, Bhavish Aggarwal Tweets Apology

Ola Electric was all set to begin accepting purchase orders for its S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters from September 8, 2021, but the company has now decided to delay the same. Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal confirmed the development in a tweet while also apologising for the delay due to technical glitches with the website. The company will now open purchases on September 15 from 8 am onwards, Aggarwal confirmed. Customers who previously reserved the Ola S1 scooter for Rs. 499 would now get the chance to book the model.

Also Read: Ola S1 Electric Scooter Launched In India

My message on the @OlaElectric purchase issues today. pic.twitter.com/vDVfwLqC7U

— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) September 8, 2021

In a letter shared on his Twitter account, Bhavish Aggarwal wrote, "I want to apologise to all of you, who had to wait for several hours. The website was just not up to expectations on quality. I know we disappointed you and I sincerely apologise to each one of you for what was clearly a very frustrating experience."

Aggarwal further revealed that the website aimed to offer a completely digitised buying experience right from completing the paperwork to a fully digital loan process. The website, he said, wasn't up to the standards, which is why it wasn't active on September 8. Several users on social media reported not being able to complete the purchase process earlier in the day.

The Ola S1 electric scooter gets maximum range of 181 km with a top speed of 115 kmph in the S1 Pro variant

"Getting you the right experience will take us another week. I want to let you know that we will now be starting our purchase on 15 September, 8 am. Your reservation and your position in the purchase queue remains unchanged, so if you reserved first, you will still be able to buy it first," Aggarwal said, adding, "Our delivery dates also remain unchanged," he added.

Also Read: Ola S1 Electric Scooter: All You Need To Know

Ola Electric aims to make the vehicle buying process completely online and does not have dealerships or experience centres on the ground like its competitors. The company has not addressed concerns about how it plans to service the scooters in the future or what the warranty options look like on its offerings.

The Ola Electric range comprises the S1 priced at Rs. 1 lakh, while the S1 Pro is priced at Rs. 1.30 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom). The company received over one lakh reservations for its scooter in just 24 hours after pre-bookings opened last month. It is building a massive manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu that will cater to this demand and even export the model overseas.