Indian ride-hailing company Ola, backed by Japan’s Softbank Group, is getting ready for a massive rollout of electrical cars by next year even as it runs trials on the practicality of the business model, CEO and co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal said.
Ola will pilot thousands of electric vehicles in numerous Indian cities this year and, after that “we will be scaling it up” in a significant way, Aggarwal said.
The ride-hailing service will likewise invest in establishing charging stations in the pilot cities, he informed. Ola is going to invest in electrification drive.
Ola’s push comes as sales of electric cars in India have remained sluggish, despite government incentives to suppress pollution.
In the year ended March last year, 22,000 electric vehicles were sold in the country, on the other hand the sales of conventionally fueled automobiles crossed 20 million units in the same duration.
India is aiming 6 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020, however high battery costs, absence of charging stations and the limited range of the automobiles is still a deterrent.
Aggarwal, however, has the support of among company’s greatest most significant investors – Softbank.
In December, Softbank Group chairman Masayoshi Son stated Ola may introduce one million electric vehicles in India during the next 5 years.
