Ola To Launch E3W Ahead Of Its IPO The company had also listed a four-wheeled vehicle as an "intangible asset under development" in its draft IPO papers.
By Entrepreneur Staff •
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Ola Electric has finalised plans and set to launch its electric three-wheeler meant to be sold directly to consumers. The vehicle is likely to be named Raahi and the company is expected to unveil it this month.
This vehicle will compete with Mahindra Treo, Piaggio Ape e-city and Bajaj RE in the electric three-wheeler segment. The company has been working on the project for couple of years as it was planning to enter the commercial vehicle segment.
According to media reports, Ola Electric is looking to make a slew of announcements, including on the gigafactory, in the next few months ahead of the listing. The e-autorickshaw is part of the same plan and internally the target is to do it over the next two weeks.
Mahindra, Piaggio and Bajaj price their electric autorickshaws in a range of INR 2.0 lakh to upwards of INR 3.5 lakh, depending on the model and add-ons. According to government transport website Vahan, more than 5,80,000 electric three-wheelers were sold last year, 66 per cent higher than in 2022. Electric three-wheelers comprised over 50 per cent of total three-wheeler sales in 2023.
Raahi, which means traveller in Hindi, is part of a string of launches Ola Electric has planned in the run up to its IPO. The firm filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in December last year, and is looking to raise up to INR 5,500 crore through a fresh issue, apart from an offer for sale of 95.2 million shares by existing investors.
Ahead of the IPO, Ola Electric has also been trying to further strengthen its position in the electric two-wheeler segment, where it is the market leader.
In February, the company extended the battery warranty for all its variants of scooters to eight years. The firm said that it would set up 10,000 fast-charging points by the end of the next quarter, sell portable fast chargers to customers, and expand its service centre network from the current 400 to 600 by April. It had also listed a four-wheeled vehicle as an "intangible asset under development" in its draft IPO papers.
Ola Electric has been working on opening its gigafactory — which the firm will use to manufacture its own battery cells — by the end of this quarter, founder and chief executive Bhavish Aggarwal said in February. It plans to allocate INR 1,226 crore from the projected IPO proceeds for the gigafactory.
