Ola S1 Air

Introduction and prices

This is a highly anticipated Ola S1 air. It’s a scooter promised to us sometime last year, and many things have changed since then. For example, Ola said this would have a 2.5-kilowatt-hour battery pack and cost 80,000 rupees, shaking the whole game up. Still, the Fame Two subsidy was significantly slashed, and every EV manufacturer had to change its plans, including Ola. Today’s Ola S1 Air has a three-kilowatt-hour battery pack and a starting price of 1.1 lakh rupees, and if you buy it after 15th August, that becomes 1.2 lakh rupees. That’s the introduction. Let’s tell you what this scooter is all about.

Design and what’s new

As you can see from the outset, it looks very similar to the Ola S1 Pro, and that’s because, more or less, what’s different is that there’s now dual-tone Bodywork. When we say dual-tone, we mean that this is just black plastic that helps to save costs. Most things about the scooter are designed to save cost; for example, the wheels are pressed steel units, which are not Alloys. Thankfully, this scooter now moves to a telescopic front fork. Ola did have that single-sided system, but it had some problems. They have switched to the telescopic design, the standard across the industry. Another thing that changes at the back is that no mid-mounted motor anymore. It’s a more cost-effective Hub-mounted motor that results in a dual-sided swing arm. You don’t get that lovely exposed wheel on this side. Its drum brakes on both ends effectively make the cost-saving measures foreign.

Features compared to S1 Pro

The scooter’s features are the same as those of the more expensive S1 Pro, and that’s very nice. You still get that big 7-inch TFT display and all the features, including the ride modes, moods, and sound system. It’s also on this scooter; however, the screen could be buggy and slow to respond.

Performance

Let’s talk about performance now. The Hub mounted motor is rated for a peak of 4.5 kilowatts of power, which is significantly lower than the S1 Pro still; this scooter claims a top speed of 90 kph, which you’ll see on the speedometer. We know Olas has many Speedo errors, so we must strap our V box onto it and test the true GPS top speed. However, this is still one of the quickest scooters in the country, petrol or electric, and you don’t need much more performance than this for an everyday scooter.

Riding position, flat floor

So, the performance is lower than the S1 Pro, but this is generally a familiar feeling scooter to ride. That familiarity extends to the way it feels when you sit on it. The riding position is almost the same, but there’s one big change: it has a flat floorboard to put your luggage out there. You can put them in Small Things grocery bags. It’s a lot more convenient because the floorboard itself is not very large. It does curve up towards the back, and the height of it is a little high, especially if you’re tall; nevertheless, this is an improvement over the standard Ola S1 Pro.

Issues and bugs

Now speaking about familiarity a lot of things on this scooter do remain the same this is now quite Pleasant weather in Bengaluru it’s the middle of the day it’s just 31 degrees which is really not bad but when you ride the scooter like this for about 10-15 minutes it goes into a thermal restricted mode which is something we saw with the original S1 Pro and it continues on the S1 air as well performance you can’t switch mode that being said it does restrict itself to normal mode which doesn’t give you the Urgent acceleration but you can still hold 70kph which again is better than it used to be on the S1 Pro when the performance was restricted nevertheless the company sells a scooter with big performance claims and those who commute longer distances on faster roads on a daily basis will expect that the s1s should deliver the performance that it promises as of now it cannot do that the motor also feels a little jerky when you accelerate or decelerate at low speeds and it almost feels like there’s something loose rolling around in the boot also just like the S1 Pro this scooter still has poorly tuned accelerator responses the S1 air takes a little time to respond to your inputs and then it continues to accelerate for about half a second after you close the accelerator also like the older Olas the motor gets cut the moment you even lightly touch the brakes combined with the unnatural accelerator response this borders between annoying and mildly dangerous when you’re trying to make u-turns or tight Maneuvers in traffic.

Revised chassis, boot space

now, Ola has significantly revised the chassis to allow for that new front suspension and the completely different swing arm design at the back. The boot space has also been revised, and while it is now slightly smaller at 34 liters, this is still a huge storage space, and it’s one of the big selling points on this scooter.

Quality concerns

This is one of the best boots in the business. That said, quality has never been a strong Ola point, and it continues to be that way on the S1 air. There are inconsistent panel gaps all over the boot sometimes; it doesn’t want to shut, but sometimes it does. I don’t know what that was, and even when the scooter is shut, there’s still much flex here. You can get your hand in there and still grab some small items if you want to. Now, Ola does tell us that these are pre-production units, so hopefully, in time, some of these issues will iron themselves.

Suspension comfort and braking

Unfortunately, when it comes to suspension Comfort, we’ve only had the chance to ride the bike around Ola’s Factory on some nice and smooth roads, so I can’t give you much feedback there. Still, from what I’ve experienced today over a couple of small bumps, this does feel a little more comfortable than the S1 Pro. Breaking-wise, the performance is not bad either. This is a drum brake. You will have to grab it with a full handful. Still, the overall performance is not bad. We want a disc brake option because drums are just more painful to deal with. They catch water in the monsoon and need to be frequently adjusted. Still, that option is unavailable on the S1 air, even if you want to pay.

Should you buy one?

After a brief experience with the scooter today, we will sum it up: the overall experience is similar to the Ola S1 Pro. It’s still a quick scooter, has many features, and is still fun-looking, especially in these bright colors. Speaking of colors, this matte finish doesn’t look that nice when you examine it up close, and it might be a little more difficult to maintain a gloss finish. It will probably do better on the Ola S1 amp; nevertheless, if you want to buy an Ola S1 scooter, we think the Air makes more sense than the Pro because it offers much of the same experience. Unfortunately, this scooter still has some significant bugs and quality issues, and we would caution you that you should wait until it is clear that the company has ironed out these issues.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Ola S1 Air electric scooter is a sleek, eco-friendly urban commuting solution. With its lightweight design, impressive range, and smart features, the S1 Air offers riders a practical and stylish mode of transportation. Whether navigating city streets or running errands around town, the Ola S1 Air delivers a smooth and silent ride while prioritizing safety and sustainability.

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