Ola has to gear up for competition as Bounce launched its first electric scooter, the Infinity E1 that features a swappable battery and is priced aggressively at Rs 45,099 vs Ola's EV offering just shy of a lakh.
Bounce - The swappable battery plan
Bounce Infinity E1 will be offered with a unique ‘Battery as a service’ option – the first of its kind in the Indian market.
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This option allows customers to buy the scooter without purchasing the battery pack. Instead of purchasing the battery, customers can rent the battery from the company and choose a subscription pack to use the swapping network.
Customers will be able to swap the battery once it discharges from a nearby swapping station. The startup is building a network of swapping stations, for which it is tapping thousands of gas stations as well as mom and pop stores, in several Indian cities, Bounce said.
Bounce has starts booking, Ola delays deliveries
Bounce pre-bookings start from December 2 and customers can pre-book the scooter by paying an amount of just Rs 499 . This comes at a time when SoftBank-backed Ola has delayed the shipping of its scooter several times.
India is the world’s largest two-wheeler market. Two-wheelers — scooters and bikes — command over 80% of all vehicles sold in the country though electric vehicles are yet to make inroads