Ola's definition of Gen-3
From Ola Electric's quarterly results of Nov 2024:
Here is the company's video from August 2024, where it clearly defines the Gen-3 platform.
From the same shareholder letter:
Ola Electric made it seem that it was ahead of schedule in developing the Gen-3 platform. This was significant as the promised Gen-3 platform featured some significant improvements, several of which were being tried on commuter scooters for the first time:
Magnet-less Motors: Not a novelty today, but getting it on a low-cost, low-voltage commuter scooter platform is special.
Structural battery pack: We count at least eight motorcycle and scooter models under development or production with structural battery packs. It's not new, but doing that with a low floorboard scooter without incurring a weight penalty requires ingenuity. From the above video, Ola's structural battery seems to be made of aluminum extrusions and castings, making it even more challenging.
Fully centralized E&E: The world is moving towards integrating the assorted circuit boards around the vehicle to a central location and optimizing the compute requirements. Ola wants to do the same, locating the entire board inside the battery bay.
Casted, Modular & Integrated Frame: This works with the structural battery. This is a low floorboard scooter, so achieving the right stiffness without a weight penalty is challenging.
Each of the above are significant technology challenges, and achieving them with a generational change in a commuter scooter platform would have been impressive.
Ola's Gen-3 Announcement
Ola launched the Gen-3 scooters today, and while there are some comprehensive changes and significant product updates, this is not the scooter promised in August 2024 and November 2024.
Of the above technological changes Ola promised with the Gen-3, they have delivered none.
The S1 Gen-3 platform features minor updates, and no significant engineering redesign. The company did keep on claiming significant improvements across parameters.
Here is what Ola announced:
- Mid-drive motor across all models: This is welcome cost optimization. Previously, the low-price S1X and S1X+ models featured a hub motor sourced from Anand Mando. This hub motor has been a high-failure-prone component. Ola Electric is making mid-drive motors standard across the S1 range. Three motors are available - 7 kW peak, 11 kW peak, and 13 kW peak.
- Chain Drive: The mid-drive variant S1 Pro of the Gen-2 range featured a belt drive. This has now been replaced by a chain drive system all across. This would provide better cost optimization and improve the drive-train life. Typically, chains last longer than modest-quality belts. Recently, River, another scooter manufacturer in India, had also moved from belt drive to chain drive. A chain drive system does add inertia to the throttle response, and it remains to be seen how Ola has optimized the system.
- Integrating Motor & MCU: As Ola's mid-drive motor family develops, the next-generation motor integrates the MCU in the same casing. This good engineering optimization saves space, complexity, and HV cable costs. During the presentation, the company hinted that the same casing would integrate a gearbox if needed.
- ABS: Once the peak power exceeds 11 kW, ABS becomes mandatory in India. Ola has decided to take the opportunity to offer single-channel ABS across the range and dual-channel at the top of the range.
- Brake by wire: This would have been significant if it was that. A 'Brake by wire' replaces the mechanical linkages of a brake with electronic sensors, applying brakes following the position of the brake lever. These systems are possible, and many manufacturers have been developing them. They haven't moved to the production stage because of common sense and regulations. Deciding not to leave critical functions like braking to frequently-fallible sensors doesn't need much wisdom.
Ola's brake-by-wire uses motor braking to aid mechanical braking. Guess who else has a similar system?
Everyone!
There is no difference between Ola's system and what is already being used by Ather Energy (they call it Magic Twist) or anyone offering to dial up the regen on the motor. Perhaps the only novelty is Ola operating the system through the brake lever. Ather uses the throttle closing.
The system in isolation is fairly simple and is fast becoming a standard fare across the industry. However, claiming it as 'Brake by wire' is taking liberty with fairly standard industry terms.
What is also troubling is Ola's claim that their 'Brake by wire' system adds 15% more range to the scooter.
When Ather did the Magic Twist feature with their 450 Apex, they could only add a few km in range. So we are curious how Ola has added 15%.
Here is a detailed paper on Ather's Magic Twist from their rather excellent Medium.
Hari Vasudevan
What does the Ola scooter portfolio look like now?
Ola now has four models - S1X, S1X+, S1 Pro, and S1 Pro+ with eight variants based on battery capacity. The most intriguing is the S1 Pro+ 5.3kWh model that promises a 320 km range. Ola says the 5.3kWh battery would use the company's own 4680 cells.
At 16.5 Wh/km, this makes the Ola S1 Pro+ the most efficient commuter scooter in the world.
InsightEV does not do product reviews, and we cannot comment further on the efficiency claims. What we can comment on is that electric powertrains are like Jell-O. Poke them from one side, and the other will lose shape. A 13 kW motor, 141 kph top speed, a 0-40 time of 2.1s, and a range of 320 km are all possible, just not together.
With a top speed of 141 kph, Ola Electric is known to operate with a 15% + speedo error. When enthusiast publication Autocar India tested the S1 Pro in May 2022, they noted a Vbox top speed of 99.8 kph when the speedo displayed 115 kph. Reducing the claimed top speed in the same ratio, the Ola S1 Pro Gen-3 has a true top speed of 122.4 kph.
Impact
Ola Electric's Gen-3 is a mix of some useful engineering and some rather tall marketing claims:
- It's not the Gen-3 as the company had claimed it to be. There is no structural battery, centralized E&E, or magnetless motors.
- The Brake-by-wire is not that, but Ola is catching up with Ather Energy and other competitors. Power regen is an improvement, though the execution is essential as it impacts user experience.
- The most significant changes are the chain drive and the integration of the MCU within the motor casing. Both will improve reliability while optimizing BoM costs.
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