Ola may add advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to its premium category S1 Pro scooter. Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal shared a teaser video that shows a small screen mounted on a metal stand, fixed next to what looks like the speedometer of an orange electric S1 Pro scooter. Agarwal is yet to reveal further details about the development, promising to share more information in a technology demonstration soon.
Ola wants to make two-wheeler riders less likely to get into accidents during their journey in India. As of December 22, the company has sold more than 25,000 electric scooters and holds a 30% share of the Indian electric vehicle (EV) market.
The ADAS hardware and software on Ola’s electric scooters will allow riders to access maps and other types of road-related information on a small eye-level display above the scooter’s headlight.
It will allow riders to use EV features such as adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance and pedestrian detection. Through line and box markings, the screen will also track the electric car’s trajectory on the road.
Agarwal’s teaser video shows that the screen will be no bigger than our mobile phone screens. Ola also seems to be testing this upgrade in real-life scenarios to see its feasibility.
In India, thousands of people die in road accidents every year. According to reports, 62,240 people died in two-wheeler accidents in the country in 2021.
Despite the alarming statistics, it took automakers a long time to introduce ADAS features into cars. Only now are driver assistance features being introduced in two-wheelers in the country.
The Ola S1 Pro is the company’s first electric scooter launched last year. However, a year ago in March, its sales suffered a setback when an S1 Pro caught fire in Pune. No casualties were reported.
The company apologized at the time and promised to analyze and fix the problem.
