OLA S1/ S1 PRO REVIEW | TheRevviewer.Com

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the latest era in the automobile industry. And in India, the Motorcycle industry is in abundance. Hence it was obvious for companies to experiment on the motorcycle industry first. Ather was the first to deliver its from the scratch EV and then it was quite heftily challenged by OLA (Yes they make EVs too now). Very Soon OLA became India’s most selling EV motorcycle. In this blog, I’m going to show you why and let you know my verdict the OLA S1/ S1pro.

 

Powertrain

The OLA Has 2 powertrains, The S1 has 2kWh Motor and the S1 pro has a 3kWh motor both producing a whooping 58 Nm torque and a peak output of 8.5kW. Its all dandy in numbers but how is it to drive? On its sportiest drive mode the ola surprises you. The power is linear and easy to use. But if you drive on eco mode and you have a little leavy pillion, you are toast. During test I found myself stuck in a pothole. The OLA just wouldn’t give me the juice. The ola has a top speed of 110 which is a lot for an EV. The battery takes only 4 hrs to charge and has an external plug for it.

 

Dynamics

The OLA really surprises you. It was almost impossible for me to consistently corner the S1 Pro. The bike is too wide for dynamic riding. It has a very soft suspension which is all over the place. The Ather has razor shark handling so definitely poor dynamics. But, what that width gives is boot space and a really wide seat. Being a pillion on this bike is no short of calling oneself a passenger princess. The OLA pampers you on all kinds of roads. The boot space is enough to store two open face helmets. It doesn’t have split seats but I’m just being greedy now.

 

Features

The OLA gets full LED projector setup. It also has a big touchscreen which is easy to use. The brightness was better than the Ather. Navigation was an issue for during testing but I was told it was due to no network in the sim installed. It has proximity lock, remote boot lock, Reverse mode (tacky to use but handy), Hill hold system and cruise control, High end motorbikes don’t get that. It does get external speakers but im not sure a lot of people are going to be using that. The switches were PU coated hence were a joy to use. They helped navigate that big screen during driving.

 

Build

Now OLA suffered massive controversies here coz of the ballsy move to have a mono-shock telescopic front suspension. I had never seen it before. But the scooter up front looks very premium. The paint looks great, The buttons are nice to feel, Its got good seats and no belt noise (Read this Ather). I would have definetly loved some more graphics as part of the design but I have no complains. I felt the there were some cost cutting done in the boot in terms of their waterproofing and liners.

Final Verdict

In EVs, if you want a scooter for your family and is mostly going to be used for city and household work, I strongly recommend the OLA S1. Other options to consider would be Ather 450x (Wont be best for family usage) and the TVS iQube (Jupiter’s converted brother). The OLA S1 and S1 pro are the most expensive EV motorcycles in India starting from 1.2 Lakhs to 1.5 Lakhs OTR respectively. If OLA manages to deal with their quality control issues and they sales/ service, I would surely recommend this EV.