Bengaluru: Ola Electric has acquired Amsterdam-based electric scooter manufacturer Etergo as it looks to launch its own two-wheelers globally next year. These scooters will be manufactured in India.
While Ola did not disclose the deal value, Etergo has raised about €21.3 million to date from German automakers and through crowdfunding.
“The future of mobility is electric, and the post-Covid-19 world presents an opportunity for us to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility globally,” Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Ola Electric, said. “With electric, digitally connected capabilities, two-wheelers will further emerge as the most preferred urban mobility paradigm around the world.”
With this deal, Ola Electric will now own the intellectual property, design and engineering capabilities of Etergo, which is known for making a fully electric AppScooter—the world’s first electric scooter to run Android apps with inbuilt GPS, access to 4G connectivity and electrically-controlled locks.
The AppScooter uses high energy density batteries to deliver a range of up to 240km. Ola is running several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions in Gurugram, Bengaluru and Nagpur with a focus on two- and three-wheelers. The company is also working with Indian power distribution firms towards developing a conducive EV ecosystem through the establishment of battery swapping and charging stations in Delhi NCR, but the programme had faced several delays.
ET had earlier reported that for Ola, cost of vehicles and infrastructure are the two keys areas that the company needs to focus on. Analysts estimate that Ola had initially invested close to Rs 50 crore in a project to build a charging infrastructure and get in more than 200 electric vehicles. They, however, said anything to do with electric will require a tremendous amount of ecosystem development, similar to Tesla’s approach in the US.
Earlier this month, Pawan Munjal, the chairman and managing director of Hero MotoCorp, invested about $1 million in Ola Electric through his family trust. Last year, Ola Electric Mobility had raised $250 million (Rs 1,725 crore) from SoftBank, valuing the company at close to $1 billion.
While Ola did not disclose the deal value, Etergo has raised about €21.3 million to date from German automakers and through crowdfunding.
“The future of mobility is electric, and the post-Covid-19 world presents an opportunity for us to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility globally,” Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Ola Electric, said. “With electric, digitally connected capabilities, two-wheelers will further emerge as the most preferred urban mobility paradigm around the world.”
With this deal, Ola Electric will now own the intellectual property, design and engineering capabilities of Etergo, which is known for making a fully electric AppScooter—the world’s first electric scooter to run Android apps with inbuilt GPS, access to 4G connectivity and electrically-controlled locks.
The AppScooter uses high energy density batteries to deliver a range of up to 240km. Ola is running several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions in Gurugram, Bengaluru and Nagpur with a focus on two- and three-wheelers. The company is also working with Indian power distribution firms towards developing a conducive EV ecosystem through the establishment of battery swapping and charging stations in Delhi NCR, but the programme had faced several delays.
ET had earlier reported that for Ola, cost of vehicles and infrastructure are the two keys areas that the company needs to focus on. Analysts estimate that Ola had initially invested close to Rs 50 crore in a project to build a charging infrastructure and get in more than 200 electric vehicles. They, however, said anything to do with electric will require a tremendous amount of ecosystem development, similar to Tesla’s approach in the US.
Earlier this month, Pawan Munjal, the chairman and managing director of Hero MotoCorp, invested about $1 million in Ola Electric through his family trust. Last year, Ola Electric Mobility had raised $250 million (Rs 1,725 crore) from SoftBank, valuing the company at close to $1 billion.
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