Why is Ola Misrepresenting Tech?

When a mass manufacturer innovates, it is exciting, as the benefits are available to a larger market immediately. Ola has always been a good marketer – taking market leadership in electric scooters in an ultra-competitive Indian market is no easy feat. However, we have noticed that at times the marketing hyperbole makes technology claims that simply do not exist.

Ola’s announcements in the last two weeks have promised several technological innovations, and we touched upon this subject last week in a News Impact story.

Ola Electric Updates its Scooter Portfolio – InsightEV

The company launched what it says is the Gen-3 of its hardware and software platform that underpins the Ola S1 scooter range.

InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility

We also pointed out that Brake by Wire, the innovation Ola is marketing the most, is anything but that. This is what we wrote.

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!

The industry treats Brake-by-Wire as a fairly standardized term. Soon after we published, Enrico Punsalang of RideApart published an excellent piece on why innovators like BOSCH are not bringing Brake-by-wire (the real deal) to motorcycles.

‘By-Wire’ controls are relatively common in aircraft and boats, but double or triple redundancy systems protect the electrical control systems. Making electrical controls primary makes sense in an aircraft, as the distance between the pedal/switch and the actuator is several feet.

In a motorcycle, that distance is a couple of feet. Hydraulics/mechanical systems work well without apparent lag, and manufacturers have spent more than a century perfecting them. Notably, a motorcycle’s brakes are exposed to the elements, unlike in a car or controls in a boat or an airplane.

If motorcycles have to go the electrical sensor’s way, redundancy protection must be provided through hydraulic/mechanical systems. That blunts any positive impact that may have been achieved – not much to gain in terms of response times, no gains in terms of weight reduction, and the BoM cost increases. That’s precisely the reason why BOSCH, and many more, have been sitting on Brake by Wire technology for years, but no one is putting it in production.

As we covered last week, Ola’s system is nothing more than a power regen and works pretty similar to Ather’s Magic Twist. Any manufacturer that provides a strong enough regen mode is doing the same.

To be fair, Ola mentions that their Brake-by-wire assists mechanical braking.

So why did they call it Brake by Wire? Being sensational?

Then there is the ABS in the rear wheel

Even more worrying is the claim that the BBW system would act like an ABS.

How?

This is what the Ola launch video says:

When a regular two-wheeler brakes mechanically, the kinetic energy of the vehicle converts to heat and gets wasted. This reduces the life of the brake pads and leads to poor efficiency. Introducing Gen-3s revolutionary Brake-by-Wire technology with a patented brake sensor. When a rider brakes, the sensor identifies not only the braking pattern of the rider but also the urgency. Hence, the scooter is able to introduce electronic braking along with mechanical braking. In parallel, the kinetic energy released converts into electricity via regen and charges the battery. This means 15% more range, double brake pad life, and a much smoother braking experience. ABS in the front wheel detects the possibility of slippage in any wet road condition and modulates the braking force to prevent locking. This, combined with our Brake-by-Wire technology, creates a combined dual ABS for the rider.

That does not make any sense. If the mechanical brakes at the rear have no ABS sensors and system, no modulation is happening. The motor braking may be getting modulated, but the mechanical brake is doing the heavy lifting, and nothing is telling it to modulate.

Ola announced at the launch event that its entire range now gets ABS. The S1 Pro+ gets dual-channel ABS, while everything else has single-channel ABS because of the power-regen-masquerading-as-brake-by-wire.