The darling of India’s electric scooter industry, Ola Electric, just held a major product unveiling as part of its Customer Day event. In addition to launching its impressively updated electric scooter line with new models, the company also showed off four electric motorcycle concepts.
The electric motorcycles are certainly eye-catching, especially the flagship-looking supersport Diamondhead model. The futuristic bike even incorporates rarely seen hub steering, though the complicated and pricey technology only further stretches the imagination regarding how long it could take such flashy concepts to one day become reality.
In addition to the Diamondhead, Ola also shared images of an upcoming cruiser electric motorcycle, as well as an adventure model, and even a naked roadster.
Ola Diamondhead electric motorcycle concept
Ola’s CEO Bhavish Aggarwal described the motorcycles not as concepts, but rather prototypes. There were physical models of each of the bikes on display at the event, and at least one appeared to be working when it was ridden out onto the stage, but “prototype” is still a fairly vague term.
The company has floated 2024 as a potential release year for its electric motorcycles, starting in a “phased manner,” but then again Ola has also made lofty promises regarding product launches that are still years behind.
Unfortunately Ola hasn’t provided any technical or performance specifications on the new electric motorcycles, further underscoring the extremely early-stage nature of the project.
A working (well enough to ride onto the stage) Ola electric motorcycle prototype
Electrek’s Take
I’m excited to see that Ola is interested in expanding into electric motorcycles. They’ve floated the idea before, but they also claimed to be developing an electric car and we’ve barely even heard crickets on that subject in over a year.
The lack of any concrete numbers at all is also disappointing. Even Kawasaki shared basic tech specs when it unveiled its first electric motorcycle prototype. The figures were laughably terrible, but the company shared them anyway. And to Kawasaki’s credit, the specs on the company’s upcoming production electric motorcycles appear to be just as pitiful. There’s something to be said for consistency, I guess.
But just because I don’t think we need to get too excited just yet for these bikes on account of Ola’s penchant for announcing big plans and not following up on them, there may be hope. There’s still room for excitement about the possibilities.
There’s a reason Ola is so gleefully celebrating its scooter success right now. Barely two years ago the company’s scooters came out of nowhere, rushing from renders to the road in short order. Despite some initial hiccups, they’ve largely been a success. The company has shown impressive numbers and is making a huge push to replace combustion engine scooters and motorbikes in India. Sure, they got some help from buying the original scooter design from a failed European e-scooter company, but then again it also looks their Diamondhead electric motorcycle design is also lifted from a European e-moto company on questionable financial footing after a previous bankruptcy. And so if Ola has made it happen before, who’s to say they won’t succeed to do it again? A couple years from now, we may just be riding around on Ola electric motorcycles.
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MINI has partnered with lifestyle brand, Deus Ex Machina, to develop this. It’s called the Skeg, and it’s a high-performance, racing-inspired electric concept car that’s sure to lighten the mood – by shedding fully 15% of its mass in the quest for speed.
One of a pair of exclusive, one-off concepts based on MINI’s John Cooper Works cars. The Deus Ex Machina Skeg celebrates MINI’s storied racing history with what the company calls, “a clean, minimal, and quiet rebellion,” that draws on materials, technologies, and philosophies from the world of surfing.
The electric MINI JCW Skeg is stripped to its essentials, with much of the steel and aluminum bits replaced with lightweight fiberglass to maximize acceleration while driving the minimalist aesthetic home. The end result weighs 15% less than the standard car – but makes the same stout 190 kW (258 hp) as the production car.
Surf’s up
MINI Skeg concept interior; via BMW.
The interior is stripped back to the barest essentials, reflecting BMW’s vision of a surf culture that prioritizes function over form. MINI claims the end result resembles a mobile surf shop, with fiberglass trays for wetsuits, specially shaped bins, neoprene seats, and other touches that “bring the surf culture into the interior.”
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For their part, the BMW and MINI styling team seems pretty proud of its minimalistic electric endeavor. “In this extraordinary collaboration … every single detail has been crafted with artisanal precision and expertise,” says Holger Hampf, Head of MINI Design. “This has resulted in unique characters that are clearly perceived as belonging together through their distinctive design language and use of graphics.”
The concept retains the production version’s 54.2 kWh li-ion battery pack, up to 250 of WLTP range with the production aero kit, sprints from 0-100 km (62 mph) in just 5.9 seconds. With 15% less mass, though, that should jump to more than 255 miles, with 0-60 times dropping below 5.5 seconds.
I dig it – but I’d skip the surf bits and just appreciate the raw composite, minimalist interior look for what it is. Take a look at the image gallery, below, then let us know what you think of MINI’s Skeg concept in the comments.
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Veteran marine and industrial power solutions company Volvo Penta has joined forces with energy solutions provider e-power to build battery energy storage systems (BESS). Volvo Penta’s battery systems for energy storage will power BESS units built by e-power that can be catered to a range of applications, most notably construction rental clients like Boels Rentals in Europe.
Volvo Penta is a provider of sustainable power solutions that currently serves land and sea applications under the Volvo Group umbrella. As more and more of the world goes all-electric, the global manufacturer has also adapted, sharing cultural values with Volvo Group to engineer new and innovative sustainable power solutions.
Nearly 100 years later, Volvo Penta remains an industry leader in marine propulsion systems and industrial engines. As more and more of the world goes all-electric, the Swedish manufacturer has also adapted, sharing cultural values with Volvo Group to engineer new and innovative sustainable power solutions.
For example, all Volvo Penta diesel engines now run on hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO), reducing well-to-wheel emissions by up to 90% across the marine and industrial power industries. On the zero-emissions side, Volvo Penta has expressed its dedication to fossil-free power solutions, including battery electric components to serve heavy-duty applications such as terminal tractors, forklifts, drill rigs, and feed mixers, to name a few.
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To leverage its battery electric value chain, Volvo Penta has also ventured into battery systems for energy storage (or BESS subsystems). These energy-dense, purpose-built BESS subsystems can provide portable, sustainable energy for all-electric charging and reduce grid dependency.
Source: Volvo Penta
Volvo Penta to deploy battery systems for energy storage
Volvo Penta recently announced a strategic partnership with e-power, a Belgian power solutions provider. Together, Volvo Penta and e-power will develop a scalable Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for Boels Rental.
The collaboration continues a long-standing partnership between all three companies. Boels – one of the largest construction rental companies is a long-time customer of e-power generators that utilize Volvo Penta engines. As the company shifts toward electrification and sustainability, it will again turn to those companies to deliver reliable performance.
Volvo Penta’s BESS subsystem comprises battery packs, a Battery Management System (BMS), DC/DC converters, and thermal management, combining to offer a compact, high-density, and transport-friendly solution optimized for rental operations. The company shared that this BESS design is integration-ready, enabling other OEMs like e-power to adapt and scale systems to customer-specific needs. Per e-power business support director, Jens Fets:
We’ve built our reputation on reliability and efficient power systems. Working again with Volvo Penta, this time on battery energy storage, allows us to meet the growing demand for energy in a silent, low-emissions, compact and mobile design—especially in rental applications.
The deployment of these new battery energy storage systems will help Boels cater to its customers’ growing demand for clean, silent, and mobile energy solutions in construction and other industrial applications.
Aside from being more quickly adaptable to customer needs, Volvo Penta says its BESS architecture marks an overall shift in rental power systems. This is welcome news for all who support a cleaner, more sustainable future across all industries.
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Two days ahead of the GLC EV’s officially schedule global debut, images that reportedly show the new 2026 Mercedes undisguised have leaked on Instagram and Reddit. They show the blocky new light-up grille on the nose of a very smooth, jellybean-like crossover shape that, despite Mercedes’ insistence that it’s moving away from the EQ series’ design language, looks an awful lot like an EQ Mercedes.
Check out the leaked images from kindleauto’s Instagram account, below, and see if you agree with that assessment.
If you need to see more before you feel comfortable commenting on the new SUV’s looks, there’s a few more angles over on the r/mercedes_benz subreddit.
As with everything else on the internet, take those unofficial images with a grain of salt and maybe wait until the GLC EV’s official reveal in a few days’ time before casting your final vote on the new look – but there’s very little reason to believe the new Mercedes will look terribly different from what you see here.
We got a sneak peek at the new GLC back in July, when Mercedes-Benz Group CEO, Ola Källenius said that, “We’re not just introducing a new model – we’re electrifying our top seller.” Back then, we learned that the new GLC EV would have a wheelbase 3.1″ longer than the current ICE-powered model, as well as more head- and leg-room for its occupants and an extra 4.5 cubic feet (for 61.4 total) of cargo space.
Källenius also promised an innovative new 800V electric architecture and the latest battery tech, which will enable the electric GLC to add around 260 km (~160 miles) of WLTP range in just ten minutes thanks to more than 300 kW of charging capability.
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