Ola S1 Air vs Ola S1 vs Ola S1 Pro: how different are the Ola electric scooters from one another?

Ola Electric recently unveiled the Ola S1 Air electric scooter in India, which has now become the entry point to Ola’s electric mobility lineup. The new S1 Air undercuts the middle child, the vanilla Ola S1, with the help of some crucial changes that help the company keep the prices relatively low. We compare the Ola S1 Air, the Ola S1, and the Ola S1 Pro to understand how different they are from one other.

Ola S1 Air vs Ola S1 vs Ola S1 Pro: price, availability 

The Ola S1 Air is the most affordable of the lot and the e-scooter can be brought home for Rs 84,999 (ex-showroom before subsidies). For buyers looking for a tad more out of their Ola e-scooter, the Bengaluru-based EV startup sells the Ola S1 premium electric scooter for not much more money. One could get the adequately equipped Ola S1 e-scooter for Rs 99,999 (ex-showroom before subsidies). For buyers, looking for the maximum oomph out of the Ola stable, there is the Ola S1 Pro, which currently retails for Rs 1,39,999 (ex-showroom before subsidies). 

Ola offers a standard warranty of 3 years / 40,000km and a battery warranty of 3 years / unlimited kilometres. Ola is offering scope for extension with additional support for another 2 years or 20,000km taking the total warranty coverage to 5 years or 60,000km.

Ola S1 Air vs Ola S1 vs Ola S1 Pro

Design

The Ola S1 triplings look very similar to each other and the most distinction can be seen between the Ola S1 Air and its more expensive siblings. The S1 Air comes off as a watered-down version of the other two with unpainted black body panels, simple tubular grab rails, conventional double telescopic front fork, cheaper twin rear shocks, pressed steel wheels, and drum brakes on both ends. Not only do these changes bring the costs down, but it also makes it lighter. The Ola S1 Air is lighter than the Ola S1 and the Ola S1 Pro by 22kg and 26kg respectively. 

The Ola S1 Air is also different from the Ola S1 and the Ola S1 Pro when it comes to smaller details such as the floorboard, which is flat on the entry-level S1 Air thanks to a simpler and cost-effective underpinning. The Ola S1 and the Ola S1 Pro are relatively similar to each other with little to no visual differences. 

The S1 Air is available in Porcelain White, Neo Mint, Coral Glam, Jet Black, and Liquid Silver colour options. The Ola S1 gets the exact same shade card to choose from. The Ola S1 Pro gets an additional six colour options in its palette which includes Khaki, Matte Black, Anthracite Grey, Millennial Pink, and Marshmellow.

Performance

The Ola Electric stable offer different levels of performance at different price points. The most expensive Ola S1 Pro gets an 8.5kW motor paired with a 3.97kWh battery pack. This powertrain propels the scooter from 0 to 40kmph in 2.9 seconds and up to a top speed of 116kmph. The S1 Pro is also the only scooter in the range to get the Hyper Mode, which extracts maximum performance. 

The vanilla Ola S1 electric scooter uses the same 8.5kW motor that generates 58Nm of peak torque at the shaft and pairs it with a 2.98kWh battery pack. This enables the S1 to go from rest to 40kmph in 3.8 seconds and up to a top speed of 95kmph. 

The most affordable of the lot is also the slowest. The entry-level Ola S1 Air comes equipped with a 4.5kW motor and is paired with a 2.5kWh battery pack. This powertrain takes the S1 Air from a standstill to 40kmph in 4.3 seconds and up to a top speed of 85kmph. 

Range and charging

The prices for the Ola scooters also decide the range that they offer to their riders. The base Ola S1 Air unsurprisingly gets the lowest claimed range, which stands at 101km. For an affordable e-scooter mainly aimed at urban dwellers, the range seems to be a perfect fit. People with more daily commutes could opt for the Ola S1 which claims to deliver a range of 141km. Riders who want to travel further still on a single charge can get the Ola S1 Pro with 181km of the claimed range. Users have been able to eke out even more!

ola-s1-pro-price-image-specs

The battery sizes of the Ola electric scooter decide their charging time. The furthest-running e-scooter, the Ola S1 Pro, takes the longest to charge. The S1 Pro tops up in 6 hours and 30 minutes. That’s followed up by the Ola S1 and the S1 Air which take 5 hours and 4 hours and 30 minutes respectively to juice up. 

Features

Despite having a varied price approach, Ola Electric has made the 7-inch color TFT touchscreen a standard fitment. The screen which runs on Ola Electric’s proprietary MoveOS delivers drive time information as well as other features such as navigation. The Ola S1 Air despite being the cheapest gets this full-blown MID. The S1 Air only misses out on the Cruise Control feature, which is reserved for the S1 Pro variant only.

Ola S1 Air vs Ola S1 vs Ola S1 Pro: verdict

The Ola Electric stable now has an electric scooter for everyone. There is a performance-oriented long-range version and then there’s the last mile muncher. The prices are still very competitive despite Ola pulling them up since their launch. However, what still is a big hit and miss, is the quality of the vehicle that the company is selling. After-sales service too has a long way to go. If one is willing to bet on the shortcoming, the Ola stable definitely has all the electric scooters one’s been looking for.