Nagpur: Soft-Bank backed cab service Ola is expected to launch a pilot for the testing of electric vehicles in the country. Ola, which has been fighting an intense battle in the Indian market with the US based-cab service, Uber is reported to tp be launching its pilot electronic car in Nagpur in the next few months to come. CEO and co-founder of Ola, Bhavesh Aggarwal told reporters that the company. He said that electronic vehicles could transform transportation completely in India by the methods of lowering the cost of operation and ownership.
Earlier in December, Siftbank Group chairman Masayoshi Son had told reporters that Ola might be introducing as many as 1 million electric cars in India in the next 5 years to come. Ola’s launch of electric cars can be seen a major push for these machines in the Indian market whose sales have remained terribly slow despite government initiatives.
Agarwal had earlier hinted that the company’s interest in electronic cars would depend on the response they receive from the Indian market. It was reported that if Ola received satisfactory responses from its Indian customers, then it might decide to increase the number of electric cabs in the country.
Although, Masayoshi Son had asked Ola to have at least 1 million such vehicles in its fleet. There had been speculations in the air that Ola might get into a partnership with the Indian government which has already been pushing for development in the sector and providing incentives for the same. It has been estimated that if everything goes as planned, the cab market might just prove to be the breakthrough sector for electronic car makers in the country.
