Okinawa discontinues Lead Acid variants of its electric scooters

India’s second largest electric two-wheeler brand by volume, Okinawa Scooters, today said that it was discontinuing the lead acid battery products to focus on lithium ion versions. The company launched in the market with the lead-acid scooter Okinawa Ridge and introduced 4 other lead-acid products since then. In total, Okinawa has sold over 34,000 lead acid-based scooters in India, and a total of 74,500 scooters since the launch. It hopes to end the financial year with 90,000 customers.

Okinawa says that customers prefer the detachable lithium-ion battery scooters as it addresses charging problem. All future models would have detachable batteries to offer convenience to users. The Okinawa scooter range presently features localization up to 90 per cent.

Okinawa expected sales to rise by 40 per cent during the festive season following the improving awareness around electric vehicles, and to boost volumes, it announced attractive discounts. Okinawa is based out of Gurugram while its manufacturing facility is in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

In October the company rolled out its Eco App, a connected mobile-based application for the Okinawa Ridge and Okinawa Praise electric scooters. Using the app, customers can see the live location of the Okinawa Praise and Okinawa Ridge via Google Maps. This feature, the company says, will be useful when the electric scooter is lent to a friend or family member, especially children, to ensure their safety. Further, the app also makes finding the electric scooter in a parking lot easy.

Okinawa OKi 100 Prototype electric bike
The Okinawa Oki 100 electric bike is now expected to launch in early 2021. Pictured is the Oki 100 concept from Auto Expo 2018.

The app also features integration of a Secure Park feature to track the vehicle to ensure it has not been moved from its parked position. Further, a SOS Messaging integration allows riders to automatically text for emergency help with the time and location to emergency contacts preset by the owner.

Okinawa Oki 100 electric bike coming early next year

Aside from the festive offers and introduction of the connected app, the company is due to launch its Okinawa Oki 100 electric motorcycle in early 2021. In an interaction with EVW, Mr. Jeetender Sharma, Founder and MD of Okinawa, said the company was trying to launch the electric bike by Diwali, but the disruption caused by COVID-19 has apparently delayed launch plans.

Aside from being a highly localized product (currently Okinawa’s products are 90 per cent localized in the country, and it aims to hit 100 per cent with the Oki 100, barring the Lithium Ion cells), the Oki 100 will see the company enter the electric bike segment, targeting sales of 25,000 bikes in the first year. The second launch for 2021 is the Okinawa Cruiser maxi scooter that was showcased at the Auto Expo.