Need an EV scooter: Ola S1 Pro vs Bounce Infinity E1

I'm planning to buy a new scooter for my daily needs and this time I have decided to buy an EV instead of ICE scooter.

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Okay, now coming to the topic. I'm planning to buy a new scooter for my daily needs and this time I have decided to buy an EV instead of ICE scooter. There are plenty of options in market like Ather 450X, Bajaj Chetak, Simple One, Hero Electric, Ola S1 and the newly launched Bounce Infinity E1.

But only Ola and Bounce are delivering all over India, Ather is restricted to Bengaluru and I don't like the design of Simple One and Hero.

I have shortlisted two candidates Ola S1 Pro and Bounce Infinity E1. Please give your valuable advise so I can decide which one to buy or I should wait as both of them are new to EV market?

What I like and dislike in the Ola S1 Pro:

• Simple and beautiful design. Looks like Eva from Wall-E.
• Great touch screen with many features on board.
• Top speed of 115 in a scooter!
• Nice build quality for a first generation product.
• Claimed range of 181 kilometers!
• Nice 36L boot space.
• Three driving modes - Normal, Sport and Hyper.
• ABS is missing here, don't know why Ola didn't implement this.
• No light in boot, will be a problem in dark.
• MoveOS is still in beta and there will be more bugs in future once this scooter goes on sale.
• Uni-body design means whole part should be replaced if there is any damage.

What I like and dislike in the Bounce Infinity E1:

• Nice Pricing.
• Swappable battery seems a good idea. What do you think?
• Has a flat floorboard, Ola has curved floorboard due to the banana shaped battery.
• Simple instrument cluster, will be less buggy than Ola's MoveOS.
• Design is acceptable, but it looks bad when compared to Ola.
• Short range and not too great top speed.
• The battery charging network will take time to expand, so Ola has advantage here.

That's it guys. Please give your opinion on these. Should I buy or wait?

Here's what BHPian sri_tesla had to say on the matter:

First of all, Ather is available not just in Bengaluru. It's available in around 25 cities currently, but if the list does not include your city then you have to go with Ola or Bounce as you mentioned.

My choice would be Ola S1 over Bounce infinity. The only advantage Bounce has over the Ola S1 is price. It's 20,000 cheaper than Ola S1. I don't think swapping network will be an advantage for Bounce for a long time to come as it will take a few years to cover many of the cities. If you are from rural areas it will take even longer. Even if there is a swapping network, pricing is very costly. The subscription itself costs Rs 850 at minimum plus each swap costs Rs 35 which negates the price advantage compared to Ola S1.

On the other hand, Ola S1 which costs Rs 20,000 more than Bounce Infinity has a much bigger battery (3 kWh vs 2 kWh on Bounce), range, much more powerful motor (5.5 KW vs 1.5 KW on Bounce), performance, storage space, ground clearance, many smart features, etc.

Here's what BHPian Akshay6988 had to say on the matter:

Kudos to you for going the green way!

I would suggest you get the tried and tested Ather EV. Both Ola and Bounce are new players in the market, they'll have initial niggles and issues. That wouldn't make your EV ownership pleasurable. So my suggestion is Ather EV only or any ICE scooter ( for the no nonsense ownership ).

Happy shopping!

Here's what BHPian ASP007 had to say on the matter:

I second Akshay's opinion. Both Ola and Bounce are new players in the market. During the media drives, Ola S1 pro exhibited overheating and other niggles. Felt like these two are still in their infancy or beta stage. May be things will sort out in the coming years.

For now, I'd suggest you check out Ather, Chetak and TVS iQube. All these are available in Guwahati. Try talking to the dealers and pay a visit to TDing them.

Here's what BHPian WheelD had to say on the matter:

Other than these e-scooters, I am sure you have others available too.

These guys are new to town. There are other brands like - Hero Electric and Okinawa who have been there, selling the scooters for some years now.

It will be prudent to check them out too. Less hype, more substance is probable.

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