Have made India's first indigenously made lithium ion-cell, says Ola

Mass production to begin in 2023 at upcoming Gigafactory; firm says use of specific chemistry and materials enables the cell to pack more energy, improves its overall life cycle

Ola Electric, the ride-hailing firm’s electric vehicle arm said on Tuesday that it has unveiled India's first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170. SoftBank-backed Ola will begin the mass production of its cell at its upcoming Gigafactory by 2023.

The Nickel Cylindrical Ola Cell uses NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) on the cathode side; and Graphite and Silicon on the Anode side. The firm said the use of specific chemistry and materials enables the cell to pack more energy in a given space and also improves the overall life cycle of the cell. The cell has been developed keeping the indigenous conditions at the core.

“Ola is building the world's most advanced cell research centre that will enable us to scale and innovate faster, and build the most advanced and affordable EV products in the world with speed,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Ola Electric.

However, the company didn’t share any specifications about the cell and how it compares with other such products in the market.

The company said it is committed to investing in core R&D to create indigenous advanced cell technologies, strengthen manufacturing capabilities and create an integrated Ola Electric Vehicles hub. It was recently allocated 20GWh capacity under the ACC (Advanced Chemistry Cell) PLI ( Production Linked Incentive) scheme by the Government of India for developing advanced cells in the country. Ola said it is setting up a manufacturing facility with an initial capacity of up to 20 GWh, localizing the most critical part of the EV value chain.

The company is also recruiting top cell R&D talent across the globe and will employ 500 PhDs and engineers.

Ola Electric launched its first electric vehicle in August 2021. It has set up the world’s largest 2W (two-wheeler) manufacturing facility in India. The company is developing its first electric 4W (four-wheeler). Apart from focusing on long-term strategic projects, such as two-wheelers, and cars, Ola’s other strategic projects include cell research,  building the Pune tech centre, and Futurefoundry UK.

“Our Li-ion cell is also the first of many in our cell technology roadmap,” said Aggarwal. “Having a robust local EV ecosystem is important for India to become a global EV hub.”

This year Ola Electric invested in an Israeli battery technology company StoreDot, a pioneer in batteries with extreme fast charging (XFC) technology. The investment in StoreDot is the first of several global strategic investments planned by Ola Electric. The firm will have access to the company’s  XFC battery technology which charges a battery from 0 to 100 per cent in 5 minutes. The company also inducted onto its Board Dr. Prabhakar Patil, former Chief Executive Officer of LG Chem Power.

Ola is also setting up Ola Futurefoundry, its global centre for advanced engineering and vehicle design. Ola is investing over $100 million over the next 5 years into the centre and staff it with over 200 designers and automotive engineers. The centre will also partner with education and research institutions in the UK to collaborate on technology research and development.

Ola Futurefoundry will work in sync with the design and engineering teams based at Ola Campus in Bengaluru, India. Besides 2W (two-wheeler) and 4W (four-wheeler) vehicle design, it will also house talent that will focus on vehicle R&D around new energy systems including cell technologies.

In India, Ola is now in direct competition with electric two-wheeler makers like Ather Energy, Hero Electric, Bajaj, and TVS Motor Company.