Uber rival Ola to put 10,000 electric vehicles on India's roads

Uber's biggest rival in India, Ola, has announced plans to launch a casual 10,000 electric vehicles within the next year.

On Monday, the ride-hailing company, which operates in over 110 cities throughout India (and now, Australia), announced a commitment to place 10,000 three-wheeled e-rickshaws and electric auto-rickshaws in its service over the next 12 months.

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It's part of the company's "Mission: Electric" sustainability initiative, which wants to bring one million electric Ola vehicles to the road by 2021 — there are currently 800,000 vehicles in the total Ola fleet.

And they're apparently working with the government to make it happen — according to Ola's press statement, the company is in talks with Indian state governments to develop policy for the phased deployment of its three-wheeled electric vehicles.

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“Three wheelers are a vital means of transportation and a source of livelihood for millions of people every day," said Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in a statement.

"It also represents an immediate opportunity to improve outcomes for all stakeholders while reducing pollution across towns and cities."

Aiming to "electrify mobility" in the Indian market, and championing a mission to make sustainable technology more cost-effective in daily transport, Ola launched India's first multi-modal electric pilot in Nagpur less than a year ago. The pilot included cabs, buses, auto rickshaws and e-rickshaws, and charging infrastructure.

Launched in 2011, with a cheeky $1.1 billion from major investors under its belt, Ola currently claims to have 125 million users. The company announced its first international expansion to Australia in January.

Uber, though dominant in Australia, only operates in 30 cities in India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Chennai, Kochi and Udaipur.

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