After uncovering design patents for new electric bikes, we have discovered a design patent for a removable electric battery from Ola Electric. This battery seems to be patented for use on an electric vehicle, but it won’t be restricted to just two-wheelers as Ola is working on electric rickshaws too.
- Only Vida e-scooters have removable batteries for now
- Ola also working on three-wheelers, cars
- Etergo scooter, the basis for Ola S1, had removable batteries
Ola removable battery patented: what could it power?
Of all the mainstream and reputed Indian electric scooter makers, only one company offers removable batteries on its products. Ather, TVS, Bajaj (under the Chetak brand), TVS and even Ola don’t have any product with a removable battery currently. Hero-owned Vida brand – with its V1 models – is the only company to currently offer removable batteries on an electric scooter today.
When Ola acquired Dutch startup Etergo (and its product called the AppScooter) it re-engineered that scooter significantly and ditched the removable battery setup. Now that the company has solidified its footing in India, it seems to be exploring that very same option.
Ola is working on electric motorbikes, cars and rickshaws, which will supplement its electric scooter line-up. While it is too early to definitively say which form factor these removable batteries will find their home in, it's a fairly safe bet to make that the lighter two-wheelers and three-wheelers are more likely than Ola Electric’s car.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
