BHPian AdityaDeane recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
So, as I mentioned in the ownership review, I had put up a service request through the Ola Electric app for 22nd November, and due to some function on campus, postponed it by a day to 23rd November, 4-7PM time slot. Fan Axial 220v
I was home the whole evening, but never received any call, or saw any service vehicle coming to cater to my request. At night, I again opened the app and rescheduled my service request to Sunday 1-4PM. The next morning, when I opened my e-mail, I got an email asking me for feedback about my recent service experience. I was flabbergasted! I gave my response that no one came for the service, and I am highly dissatisfied!
Then, on Thursday night, I went out at 10PM to switch on my scooter and take it out of vacation mode. I had fully charged the scooter, and turned on vacation mode, and kept it parked. To my surprise, it didn't switch on. I then tried to Reboot it as well, but nothing. I thought that maybe it was not starting as the ambient temperature showed 6°C, so waited for the whole Friday, and repeated this exercise during the warmth of the day, but still the same response.
Incidentally, I had left the charger in the boot thinking that when the service guys will come on Thursday, I'd switch the scooter on, so there should not be any charging problems in 3-4 days.
Finally, frantically I started messaging on all our WhatsApp and Telegram groups, and everyone suggested me to open the boot from the front (trust me it's a very easy process, so never leave anything valuable in your scooter's boot, any layman can do it with just 1 basic tool), and then Hard Reset the scooter by disconnecting the coupler and reconnecting it again. Some people suggested that the battery cells may have frozen and died in the cold morning climate, hence the issue. I was scared!
Finally, I mustered the courage to open the boot yesterday, and at least take my charger out, and see if the scooter charges or not. To my utter shock, it wasn't charging. The LED on the charger body wasn't coming on, no activity in the scooter like when it usually charges.
I called up the local Ola Experience Centre guy in Kullu, he suggested me to see if I can find any Ola scooters near me, and take my charger along, then connect it to their scooter and check if my charger has gone kaput. But, I could not find any scooter near Manali.
Then today afternoon, I decided to do the Hard Reset, and oh what a relief it was, to see the screen light up once again, and the scooter switched on with 96% battery remaining. I was so happy, that I charged it fully again, and asked my son to join me for a scooter trip somewhere close by.
This is the location of the coupler and the method to Hard Reset the scooter!
But, the joy was short lived. As I wasn't planning on a long drive, I stuck to my usual Normal Mode, and didn't use Sport Mode. I kept the speeds around 40Km/Hr, and did not strain the motor. I went from Manali to Majach village, a distance of around 10Kms from the Right Bank road, via Old Manali and Gaushal villages. The scooter went up without any problem!
The views from there are amazing, you can see the whole valley, and also the water reservoir side, on the way to Rohtang Pass!
We stopped in the village for some pics, and to enjoy the views of the valley. On the way down, the scooter switched off again, after driving just 4-500 meters, near the Bada Pathar and Iron Bridge. We sat down again to let the motor cool down, by walking down to the stream, and then coming back to the scooter after 15-20 minutes. It started but stopped after 3-4 feet. We sat down again and waited for another 10 minutes, and then we were able to drive back to Manali in Sport and Normal modes without any issues.
After all this, now I am very scared:
I was able to drive it till Dhundhi Bridge initially with my son, the scooter didn't overheat or switch off then, so why has the motor started heating up during every drive now?
I seriously hope that the Service guys come tomorrow and thoroughly check what is wrong with the motor or the software, and get a perfectly running scooter for my SAIRs around Manali!
P.S. - One more shocking update from the Kullu OEC person was that the Mandi Service Centre people have not received any service request from my App, and hence no one came.
What is the use of providing an App, and the feature to raise Service Requests, when it doesn't reach the concerned Service Centre? I have asked him to request them to come tomorrow by all means, let's see how things go.
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