An official at Hero Tech Center Germany for Vida World accuses Ola Electric of copying visuals from Zero Electric Motorcycles, a part of Hero MotoCorp.
Ola Electric, a popular, albeit even controversial, name in the Indian electric vehicle (EV) industry, recently came up with its Ola Roadster series of electric motorcycles. However, soon after its pictures were floated online, a controversy started, with some netizens pointing out how the pictures look very similar to those from Zero Electric Motorcycles, a U.S. electric two-wheeler company owned by Hero MotoCorp.
Ola Electric Copies Zero Electric?
The controversy grew when Abrar Bin Ayub, Product Manager at Hero Tech Center Germany for Vida World, shared his thoughts on social media. He accused Ola Electric of copying Zero Motorcycles’ work. He wrote: “How sad! Folks at Ola Electric completely ripped off the work of Zero Motorcycles Inc. Beyond legal, how does one’s conscience allow this? Does the culture empower or force one to? Would really like to see accountability for this Bhavish Aggarwal.” The post was quick to go viral and sparked many discussions on ethics and questionable modus operandi of Ola Electric.
Of course, Ola Electric is not new to controversies. Other than the numerous reports of sub-standard quality of its S1 range of scooters, there have been reports of malpractices. For instance, Ola Electric has been accused by MapMyIndia of misusing data for Ola Maps. Responding to the accusation, Bhavish Aggarwal claims that Ola Maps works separately from Ola Electric and all the allegations are false. Ola Electric has even received flak for claiming to be the 4th largest EV company in the world. The company made this claim with a disclaimer that reads – “excluding China.” This tactic has been called out by many as China is the biggest EV market.
Also Read: Ola Roadster Pro vs Ola S1 Pro Comparison – Specs, Prices & More!
A remark by one Ishan Agarwal, which got over 1.1 million views, reads: “There’s never a day that Indian companies won’t embarrass you. They removed a whole country larger than India from the chart to make OLA the ‘4th’ largest EV company.” Another user says, “After a few slides, they announced a partnership with Lenovo, a Chinese company. I think they did it with intention.” The company is yet to issue a statement on this.
Also Read: Watch Ola Electric Scooter Wade Thru Water While Hero Splendor Stalls
