Ola production zips past 1000 e-scooters/day

 From Electrek

Despite running into initial delays, Ola has significantly ramped up production of its high-speed smart electric scooters. Now the Indian company says it will be opening up a new payment window soon to complete more orders of its Ola S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters.

Those scooters have made waves in the industry for their combination of high performance and low prices.

Confirmation from the CEO that the scooters would be heading towards the export market this year has stoked international anticipation as well.

Ola’s electric scooters offer a maximum speed of 115 km/h (71 mph) yet start at an affordable INR 99,999 (approximately US $1,350).

Ola originally intended to deliver the first scooters several months ago, but deliveries only began in December after production delays.

Production rates appeared to have soared though, as the company boasted a daily rate of nearly 1,000 scooters at the beginning of the year.

The scooters are produced in a megafactory known as the Ola Futurefactory. It has an intended designed capacity of two million electric scooters per year, or around 5,500 per day.

Plans include expanding the production capacity of the entirely female-run factory to upwards of 10 million electric scooters per year.

Now that production appears to be ramping up, Ola has announced plans to open a new window for payments.

Reservation holders that have laid down 20,000 INR (approximately US $270) will be able to make a final payment starting Jan 21. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal confirmed that those deliveries would occur over January and February.

I wrote a piece on two- and three-wheelers in India here.

Microlino EV gets a refresh

From Green Car Reports:

The Microlino, a retro EV inspired by the classic Isetta/BMW microcar, is getting a redesign despite not having gone on sale yet.

Now dubbed Microlino 2.0, the tiny EV is scheduled to appear at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show.

A redesign was necessary in order to meet certain internal safety standards, according to a press release from Micro Mobility, the car's manufacturer. That necessitated changing the vehicle's structure and increasing the rear track width, along with all of its overall dimensions.

In addition, Micro Mobility said it redesigned the interior and gave the Microlino a more powerful electric motor. The company hasn't published updated specifications. In its original form, the Microlino had a 20-horsepower motor, granting it a top speed of 55 mph. Micro Mobility said the original price of $13,600 will not change.

First shown in 2016, the Microlino is a modern, all-electric homage to the Isetta, a microcar designed to economically remobilize Europe after the devastation of World War II.

The original Isetta was designed by Italian firm Iso, which later built the Grifo and Rivolta sports cars. But it's probably better known as a BMW, as the German firm built far more cars under license than Iso itself did.

The redesigned Microlino will be displayed in Geneva alongside a concept electric scooter called the Microletta, which has a top speed of 49 mph. That would normally require a motorcycle license in Europe, according to Micro Mobility; the company circumvented it by giving the Microletta two front wheels, similar to the Toyota I-Road.

Micro Mobility plans to sell the Microlino in Europe and China, but not the United States, in part because it is unlikely the car would pass U.S. crash tests.

Here's my previous piece about the Microlino

Gogoro's sales boom signals end for petrol scooters

Gogoro scooters

From Electrek:

Gogoro, the Taiwanese manufacturer of battery-swapping electric scooters, showed off huge growth in 2019. As the company prepares to expand globally in 2020, could this be the beginning of the end for gas[petrol]-powered scooters?

It certainly could be. And in fact it’s already happening in the East.

In Gogoro’s native Taiwan, where scooters are the dominant form of transportation instead of cars, the company is now the second-largest player in the scooter market. And not just the electric scooter market — but the entire scooter market. Only KYMCO is leading the startup Gogoro for market share, and that company has a huge incumbent advantage.

In just the electric scooter market, Gogoro maintains over 80% of the market share.

Now Gogoro has announced that its sales more than doubled in 2019, up over 105% compared to the previous year, according to the Taipei Times.

With its 55 mph (90 km/h) electric scooters, swappable batteries and a vast network of battery swap stations, Gogoro has proven incredibly popular in its domestic market. After already achieving unicorn status (a startup worth over $1 billion), the company has sets its sights on global expansion. The first country to receive Gogoro electric scooters for retail customers is Israel, which is likely a stepping stone on the way to expanded European operations and (hopefully) eventually US operations.

Throughout the developing countries in Asia, scooters have bigger sales than cars.  Electric scooters are likely to take off before electric cars, because their costs (up-front and running) are so much lower.   Good for pollution and the climate.

(See also Gogoro’s colorful new electric scooter is twice as cheap but just as fast as before)