- Ola S1 Pro electric scooter has been put up against the Yamaha Aerox 155 ICE-powered scooter
- The Ola S1 Pro uses three times more torque to instantly leap off the starting line and maintain a lead
- The Yamaha Aerox 155 could however achieve a higher top speed if given more length than just a quarter mile
The EV market is booming and electric two-wheelers are the largest contributors, but the question that has been the talk amongst enthusiasts, is whether electric two-wheelers are any faster than their ICE counterparts. Autocar India has pitched the Ola S1 Pro one of the most popular and powerful electric scooters in the country against the fastest ICE-powered locally manufactured scooter, the Yamaha Aerox 155. Let’s take a look.
Yamaha Aerox 155 vs Ola S1 Pro: petrol vs electric power
The Yamaha Aerox 155 is one of the faster two-wheelers in the market today and is the fastest locally manufactured scooter in India. Thanks to the Yamaha R15-derived liquid-cooled single-cylinder 155cc engine it develops 11kW of peak power. This power figure is almost 30 percent more than the electric Ola S1 Pro. However, the Ola S1 Pro develops a lot more torque at 58Nm which is crucial on a straight-line quarter-mile drag race. The Ola S1 Pro also delivers this torque from the get-go which means instant acceleration.
Technical specifications on paper would suggest that the Ola S1 Pro electric scooter is faster across the quarter mile than the Japanese Aerox 155. A similar narrative can be seen in Autocar’s video. The Yamaha Aerox 155 leaps off the start line smoothly and so does the Ola S1 Pro. However, as has been the complaint with Ola’s tuning of the scooter, the Ola S1 Pro does not utilise its on-tap performance for real-world use. An Ather 450X in comparison would launch off the mark harder. The Ola S1 Pro however manages to stabilise its power delivery and the constant flow of torque helps it accelerate through the majority of the quarter-mile stretch and maintain its lead. The Ola S1 Pro finishes the quarter mile in 19.013 seconds which is a full two seconds faster than the Yamaha Aerox 155.
For uniformity of external constraints and rider discrepancies, Autocar India conducted a second run having rider switch their vehicles. The results however were the same. This thus makes the Ola S1 Pro premium electric scooter the fastest scooter manufactured in India. However, the Yamaha Aerox 155 could pass the Ola S1 Pro on a long stretch of road, thanks to the power advantage which gives the engine ability to achieve a higher top speed.
