Bangalore: Ola Electric, one of India’s most admired startups, has silenced critics concerned with its falling revenues with a new product in a new industry for a solution that no domestic company is offering, yet. And Ola’s flamboyant promoter, IIT-educated Bhavish Aggarwal, seems to have used the festive season as the perfect launchpad for the ambitious revival – and resurgence of his brand.
A new chapter in energy has begun.
From vision to reality, Ola Shakti marks the next leap in India’s journey toward self-reliant, sustainable power.
Here’s a glimpse from the launch that set the current in motion. ⚡ pic.twitter.com/moOzMHtMz1— Ola Electric (@OlaElectric) October 16, 2025
On Thursday, October 16, Ola Electric launched Ola (शक्ति) Shakti, a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) solution for residences, farms, and businesses, offering power backup and storage to ensure an uninterrupted energy supply while leveraging AI to monitor energy usage.
“India doesn’t face energy shortage; it faces an energy storage opportunity. With Ola शक्ति, we are turning that opportunity into energy independence. We have built world-class battery and cell technology for electric mobility. Ola शक्ति extends that innovation to homes, helping them store and use clean energy intelligently. Ola शक्ति is a natural next step for us as we leverage our existing 4680 cell technology, Gigafactory production capabilities, and nationwide Ola network as a ready sales and distribution backbone – ensuring rapid scale without any incremental investment,” Bhavish Aggarwal said in a press release.
Ola शक्ति is Ola’s solution for millions of rural residents who are tired of unreliable energy supplies, especially since the government is increasingly looking at renewables to fulfil the growing energy demand, which has increased nearly 46% since 2013-14. Even though the government claims power shortages have reduced to 0.1% in 2024-25 from 4.2% in 2013-14, electricity generation from renewables remains inactive at certain times of the day, based on climatic conditions. This results in excess capacity at certain times of the day, with no chance of storing the energy for later use, especially during the night, when energy demand peaks. This works similar to your mobile power bank – but at a far larger scale.
Until now, many Indians depended on diesel generators when the electricity went out, but the demand for these generators is now declining, as the focus now shifts to better energy utilisation.
From quiet motion to a name that defines the future of energy. Introducing Ola Shakti. pic.twitter.com/T1TtuLnyrI
— Ola Electric (@OlaElectric) October 16, 2025
Ola Shakti aims to offer a power backup of up to 1.5 hours on a full load, storing up to 9.1kWh, depending on the configuration selected. The company is accepting bookings starting from ₹55,999, with deliveries expected to commence by Makar Sankranti (January 14) next year.
From dominance to criticism to resurgence
Bhavish Aggarwal has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately- Ola Electric has lost its numero uno position in the 2-wheeler EV market due to increasing customer complaints and revenues declining by half, mainly attributed to this.
Bhavish has consistently positioned himself as the ‘poster boy’ of India’s startup ecosystem, even as he is regularly compared to Elon Musk based on the hype factor that helped Ola Electric become India’s leading EV maker, just as Elon Musk’s Tesla did the same for the passenger vehicle market in the US.
While Elon has kept a low profile lately, Bhavish seems to be pushing his team to make for lost ground. Earlier this month, Ola Electric became the first domestic player to receive approval for its non-rare-earth-based ferrite motor. This indigenously developed motor is aimed at eliminating the dependency on China for critical rare earth minerals, needed for manufacturing EV batteries.
While Ola Shakti is a complementary product that has been developed using the company’s existing 4680 Bharat Cell technology, all eyes will be on Ola’s commitments to deliver its products on time, while ensuring the complaints that plagued the Ola scooters aren’t repeated again.
