Another Bengaluru-based electric vehicle start-up has entered the fray: Simple Energy has announced it will start taking pre-bookings for its upcoming electric scooter, the Simple One Mk 2, on August 15—the same day that Ola Electric is expected to release its much anticipated electric scooter.
Days after announcing that it would set up a massive production plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, capable of producing up to ten lakh vehicles a year, Simple Energy have announced it will start taking pre-orders on August 15.
In it first phase of launch, the scooter will be launched in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, with future plans for launch in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Maharashta, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Punjab.
The Simple One electric scooter is expected to have a 4.8 kWh lithium-ion battery, a 240km range in eco mode, a top speed of 100kph, and can do the 0-50kph sprint in 3.2 seconds.
It can be noted that Simple Energy had announced an independence day launch date in May, while Ola Electric announced theirs on August 3.
Ola Electric had also invested in a manufacturing plant in Hosur in Krishnagiri District. The company claims it will be able to produce one crore electric vehicles per year from this plant, which will employ at least 10,000 people. Ola Electric has an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to invest Rs 2,354 crore to set up a plant to manufacture electric bikes.
Simple Energy, which was founded in 2019, also has ambitious plans for its Hosur plant: Spread over 200,000 sq ft, it is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs to begin with. The company plans to invest over Rs 350 crore over two years to set it up.
While the Ola Electric scooter specs have yet to be officially confirmed (CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has promised to reveal these on the August 15 launch day) it is estimated to be in the same ballpark. The company has claimed “class-leading acceleration, largest in-class boot space and superior range” on its website. Automotive websites have translated this to equal a 3.6 kWh battery on the top model, with a range of 150km under normal use (the Etergo Appscooter that Ola offering is based on had a range of up to 240km in the top variant). CEO Aggarwal had tweeted a poll asking social media users what they would like the top speed to be: The inclusion of an over 100kmph option suggested the century mark would be possible on the scooter, which would put it ahead of the current segment leader, Ather Energy’s 450x.
However, Ola have had an advantage: The company had purchased the Amsterdam based EV marker, Etergo BV. The Ola Electric Scooter is expected to be based on Etergo’s Appscooter, though Ola have said they re-engineered it from the ground up.
Simple Energy by contrast say they have designed everything in-house, from the motor to the battery. In November 2020, its prototype Mark 1 electric scooter achieved an ARAI-certified range of over 230km. Since then, the company closed a pre-series round of investing which saw it raise an undisclosed amount from angel investors including UiPath’s VP – Global Business and Finance Operations, Vel Kanniappan, and Raghunath Subramanian, its non-executive chairman.
The company is reportedly in talks to raise Series A funding of $15 million.