Cab aggregator Ola Cabs, run by ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, is set to launch its first fleet of electric vehicles (EV), comprising 10,000 cars.
The new category of cars will be rolled out in the next few weeks, according to a press statement, and will include benefits like zero cancellations, ride assurance and cashless payments.
Electrification of the ride hailing fleet is the next frontier for the industry and a step in the direction of the future of mobility. Our roadmap of developing in-house technologies that can be leveraged across group level gives us a competitive advantage in the ride hailing business,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, the co-founder and chief executive of Ola Cabs.
This comes soon after Ola’s rival Uber announced its foray into EV cab services in October last year. The Bengaluru-based ride hailing platform’s EV offering also competes with BluSmart Electric Mobility, which concluded its Series A fundraise amounting $50 million in May, last year.
The Bengaluru-based company has received criticism after one of its e-scooters caught fire, causing some injuries to some customers.
Separately, Aggarwal said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that Ola’s electric mobility arm, Ola Electric, is planning to launch service subscriptions by as soon as next week, without sharing any further details. Some users replied to his tweet by suggesting that the company should introduce replacement of spare parts, battery and software upgrades on annual plans.
The ride hailing platform has made several announcements around expansion of its electric mobility offerings, primarily via Ola Electric.
Aggarwal said in a blog post last week that the company is set to launch more electric two-wheelers including a mass market scooter, premium motorcycle and a mass motorcycle, in the next couple of years. He added that Ola aims to launch about six electric four-wheelers by 2027, after its first four-wheeler's launch, expected in 2024.