Ola Electric recalls over 2,00,000 electric scooters over front fork issue

• Ola Electric has announced a free front fork arm upgrade for its S1 and S1 Pro electric scooter customers.
• The company has claimed that the new front fork arm design enhances durability and strength.
• The company has sold over 2,00,000 electric scooters so far in the country.

Ola Electric has become one of the country's biggest electric vehicle (EV) makers, dominating the electric two-wheeler segment with the Ola S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters.

The company has had its fair share of issues, with its scooters reportedly catching fire, users reporting quality control issues, and more. However, one of the biggest issues around the scooter is the front fork suspension.

An incident relating to its front fork arm first came to light in April 2022 when the front suspension of an Ola S1 Pro broke after hitting another bike. Since then, several reports have involved the scooter’s front suspension.

Ola had earlier said its front fork is safe

In January 2023, the front suspension of an Ola S1 Pro broke, resulting in the rider getting injured. Ola Electric had then claimed that it resulted from a “very high impact road accident.”

The company had claimed that its front fork is safe and has been designed to keep a factor of safety higher than 80% of the typical load encountered on vehicles.

Ola says the front fork is safe but offers to “upgrade” over 2,00,000 scooters

In an unexpected turn of events, Ola Electric has now announced that it is offering a free “upgrade” of the front fork to Ola S1 and S1 Pro customers.

In its statement, the company said that it had upgraded the front fork design, which has improved its durability and strength. The company still maintains that concerns around the safety of its front fork arm are “unfounded.”

The company has sold over 2,00,000 scooters so far, and its representative confirmed to Business Insider India that “all Ola customers” are eligible for the free upgrade.

While the company has not termed this a recall, the “upgrade” is one of the biggest in terms of the number of vehicles involving an Indian two-wheeler company. Royal Enfield had announced a recall of over 2.36 lakh electric scooters in 2021 to fix a defective ignition coil.

This is not the first time Ola Electric has recalled its vehicles. In 2022, the company recalled 1,441 Ola S1 Pro electric scooters for a “pre-emptive diagnostic” after several fires involving electric scooters from different companies were reported in the country.

Ola’s unique front fork arm

Ola currently uses a front fork arm in which the entire weight is supported on only one side, making it one of India's only companies to use such a design. The fork acts as a joint between the suspension and the wheel.

While the company has not revealed its new front fork, it is expected to move to a more traditional design.

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