Ola Electric debuted a teaser for the Ola Solo, an autonomous self-balancing scooter, on April 1, 2024. The timing of the announcement and the features presented in the teaser video suggested it was an April Fool's prank by the electric vehicle (EV) maker.
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Features of the Ola Solo
The Ola Solo was claimed to possess several advanced features:
- Autonomous Self-Balancing: The scooter was said to balance itself without any rider input.
- Summon Mode: This feature would allow the scooter to autonomously travel to the user's location upon being summoned.
- Vishram Mode: In this mode, the scooter would autonomously navigate to the nearest Hypercharger when its charge is low.
- Krutum AI: The scooter could interact with users in 22 languages, thanks to its AI integration.
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Clarification from Bhavish Aggarwal
While Bhavish Aggarwal later admitted that the video was a joke, he also made it clear that the electric vehicle manufacturer is indeed working on the technology seen in the previous video and has begun to produce prototypes. The Ola Solo may be shown traveling without a rider in a new video that was uploaded with the clarification. As of right now, it appears that the self-balancing scooter's technology is still in the research and development phase. Furthermore, creating autonomous driving technology appropriate for Indian road conditions is a challenging task. So it is safe to say that a self-driving scooter’s launch is still a few years away. This is not the first time that an Indian EV maker has showcased a self-balancing scooter as Liger Mobility unveiled the Liger X and Liger X Plus at Auto Expo 2023.