[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Walkaround video below. Media will be able to drive the scooters in the next 1-2 days and reviews will be up in a week:

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=L6IbUh_B64s

Took this screenshot from the walkaroud video

And when I looked at the registration number...guess what, it's an Ather 450x even the VIN number matches!



Then i looked at the rear swing arm and it's undoubtedly 450 (albeit with a chain drive) and also the front suspension. This just shows how far they still have to go to be able to deliver a vehicle to actual customers.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by JithinR

Just finished booking it in Namma Red. Now need to get my money back from Ola.

Same pinch buddy
I don't know how much time Ola will take to refund the amount.
They declared 1 lakh bookings in 24 hours. Will they declare how many cancellations in next 24 hours

-Ravi

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Took this screenshot from the walkaroud video

Then i looked at the rear swing arm and it's undoubtedly 450 (albeit with a chain drive) and also the front suspension. This just shows how far they still have to go to be able to deliver a vehicle to actual customers.

Good catch. Did they modify the 450x or they are just showing the existing 450x registration as a Simple ONE?

I always felt their claims are way over the top and constantly changing. Just 2-3 months back, they announced they will launch the scooter initially in Bangalore. A month back, they changed that to 3 cities (Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai). Now they are saying, they will launch in 13 states. They are gonna install 300 charging stations in 3-4 months? Today they announced they will have a 1 million capacity plant in the first phase. Where is the money coming from? When someone asked him the same question on Twitter a few days back, the founder said, "You dont need an investor , when you already have money mate ! Startup is not only about raising money."

Source:
https://twitter.com/monusharma1989/s...50176429985800

https://twitter.com/suhasrajkumar/st...71851292831749

I think they are not able to raise more funds after the initial rounds. They don’t have enough funds to set up large factory. If you follow the CEO’s twitter posts, he seems more worried about Ola scooter. All these over the top claims seem to raise more funds (can’t blame them honestly) and Ola’s concurrent launch really hurting them.

[girishv]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Took this screenshot from the walkaroud video
Attachment 2193556
And when I looked at the registration number...guess what, it's an Ather 450x even the VIN number matches!

Attachment 2193557 .

Is it possible that the owner of this has an ather too?
As they may not have registered any bike till now?

[Mortis]

Out of the two escooter launches, this one has impressed me more. Mainly due to the range and split battery packs.
Real world tests will reveal which of the two scooters holds up to scrutiny.
I don't think the scooter can be registered at this point so the registration used is probably a placeholder.

[535dinesh]

Replaceable battery is simple one EVs biggest advantage over Ather and Ola. With 1Million manufacturing capacity per annum and with released specs they look promising. But as someone pointed out need to wait and watch on their growth.

[pogo0120]

Originally Posted by girishv

Is it possible that the owner of this has an ather too?
As they may not have registered any bike till now?

I am really shocked! Now I want my money back unless this is sorted out immediately. Please shed more light on this.

Does it mean, these guys really don't have a grounds up prototype?
Is this a fraud in making? How can they have a registered number with RTO which shows a competitor name?

Man, I was about to sleep peacefully today and now I have this thread running in mind. I did check YouTube video and snapshot seems to be correct.

https://youtu.be/L6IbUh_B64s&t=3m20s

[udaikalra01]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Took this screenshot from the walkaroud video
Attachment 2193556
And when I looked at the registration number...guess what, it's an Ather 450x even the VIN number matches!

Attachment 2193557

Then i looked at the rear swing arm and it's undoubtedly 450 (albeit with a chain drive) and also the front suspension. This just shows how far they still have to go to be able to deliver a vehicle to actual customers.

I know I might be overthinking but they are claiming to have a manufacturing facility with million unit production capacity. Where is that? Ola very proudly showcased their manufacturing facility in the launch as people really connect very well with the "Manufactured in India" thing. But we don't really know much about Simple Energy's factory, they did not share any location information. Either there's something fishy, or we are far away from an actual production model. Also, the company itself was able to raise just around Rs 110 Cr, is it able to set up such a large scale factory with limited funding?

[diesel_head]

Somehow this whole thing has Trevor Milton sort of vibes. No clear information on source of funds or how much funding they have secured so far. That “manufacturing plant “ looks like a ready to move in shed, not a purpose built automotive factory. And add over the top specs. Looks a lot like Nikola Motors, desi version.

[anandhsub]

What is the point of having a much smaller portable battery vs fixed one? It doesn't really solve the issue of not having a charging point in the parking.

Seems more of an emergency feature. In case you run out of charge on the road you can park the bike take the battery out and get it charged and fit it back instead of having to push the bike around.

A good to have feature but not really a must have IMO. In my 13 yrs of owning ICE vehicles I have never run out of fuel even when I had a bike where the fuel inductor never worked.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Going a little deeper into it, as of today they have raised total Angel rounding funds of $904k, which is about INR ~7 Cr, this is nothing to start a manufacturing facility. Their Series A fund raising of $15 million is still in progress and not yet completed.

As per the news reports of early August 2021, their manufacturing facility at Hosur was just started and first phase is not ready yet.

It looks like the launch scooters are manufactured at the make shift facilities to successfully complete the Series A funding, which will enable them to complete Phase 1 of the factory and production has to start thereafter. There are lots of ifs and buts in the claims that they will start deliveries from Jan 2022.

Edit - Just comparing this with the story of Ather. Ather raised $130 million in 2014 and 2015 and launched their scooter in 2016. Whether the ongoing fund raising of $15 million sufficient to start a manufacturing facility and start production, unless it is again a make shift production unit?


KK

[Sebring]

As Mr. White Shoes here fumbled his way through the presentation (Watch it on YouTube), and I had my doubts on his claims. When the whole world is working on 'range', these guys claim to have cracked it. I'll need to test those claims, surely

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by udaikalra01

I know I might be overthinking but they are claiming to have a manufacturing facility with million unit production capacity. Where is that? Ola very proudly showcased their manufacturing facility in the launch as people really connect very well with the "Manufactured in India" thing. But we don't really know much about Simple Energy's factory, they did not share any location information. Either there's something fishy, or we are far away from an actual production model. Also, the company itself was able to raise just around Rs 110 Cr, is it able to set up such a large scale factory with limited funding?

Your apprehensions are correct. They currently don't have any manufacturing facility and have so far raised only USD 5 Million, with which they are doing initial design and prototyping. They have finalised an industrial shed where their Manufacturing facility will be, but there is no work started on the factory yet. They are in process of raising some USD 15 million more, with which they will set up their manufacturing.
Their factory (if they get their 15 Mil funding) will start operations probably by mid next year and then they will start delivering the scooters.
So everyone who has booked the Scooter, please be aware that they will get scooters only after a year and that too if the funding is received.
Their plans are currently only at design stage and very far from realization. Initial production capacity will only be 100,000 units per year and will not be 1 million as claimed by them (they only have open space which can be scaled up to this level)

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Sebring

As Mr. White Shoes here fumbled his way through the presentation (Watch it on YouTube), and I had my doubts on his claims

Glad to know I've a company for this thought!! Personally I find it little odd to see a scooter with chain that too in 2021 My Son was asking, why not use a shaft instead which IMHO is a bad idea considering the oil changes.

But for sure, some exciting times ahead awaits & hopefully India takes the next wave of automotive manufacturing for the world!! I sincerely pray as a Nation we witness that spin off some serious uplift of our nation.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Their factory (if they get their 15 Mil funding) will start operations probably by mid next year and then they will start delivering the scooters
So everyone who has booked the Scooter, please be aware that they will get scooters only after a year and that too if the funding is received

Somewhere by end of 2022 they'll start delivering a vehicle with a spec of 2021, which by then, I'm more than positive, Ather & Ola might deliver more than what any customer can think off, let alone the removable battery pack, a thing of past!!

[Phantom 510]

Wonderful E scooter with great performance and mind boggling claimed range. One thing I particularly liked about this scooter is it's Namma Red color option ( the word Namma is really close to heart as I spent well over a decade in Bangalore, Karnataka). If I had to buy one some day it would certainly be the Namma Red for sure.