Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd., a company backed by Ola, India’s leading mobility platform and one of the world’s largest ride-hailing platforms, on Friday announced that it has raised a sum of Rs 400 crore led by several of Ola’s early investors, Tiger Global, Matrix India and others, as part of its first round of investment.
The company was initially established to enable Ola’s electric mobility pilot program in Nagpur. In 2018, Ola subsequently announced ‘Mission: Electric’ to bring one million Electric Vehicles on Indian roads by 2022. Ola Electric is currently running several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions, including battery swapping stations, electric 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler services amongst others.
The new business, led by Ola executives Anand Shah and Ankit Jain, has an independent charter to develop platforms and infrastructure to make electric mobility, a reality at scale. Building on various pilot initiatives and evolving market dynamics, the company is primarily focused on deploying charging and battery swapping networks focused on the commercial electric vehicle segment. Ola Electric has already partnered with several OEMs and battery manufacturers, and intends to work closely with the automotive industry to create seamless solutions for electric vehicle operations.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder & CEO, Ola said, “At Ola Electric, our mission is to enable sustainable mobility for everyone. India can leapfrog problems of pollution and energy security by moving to electric mobility, create millions of new jobs and economic opportunity, and lead the world.”
Echoing strong policy positions to support electric vehicles used for commercial activities, both by the Government of India and various state governments across the country, Ola Electric aims to provide the enabling infrastructure to enable “clean kilometres traveled” at scale.
Anand Shah, Head of Ola Electric Mobility said, “The first problem to solve in electric mobility is charging: users need a dependable, convenient, and affordable replacement for the petrol pump. By making electric easy for commercial vehicles that deliver a disproportionate share of kilometres traveled, we can jumpstart the electric vehicle revolution.”