Ola Electric, electric vehicles manufacturing company, said it will invest $500 million to set up a Battery Innovation Centre and promoting indigenous cell research and development in India. The company plans to set up a state-of the-art Battery Innovation Centre (BIC) in Bengaluru. As per Ola Electric statement, it will be one of the most advanced cell R&D facilities with more than 165 unique and cutting-edge lab equipment to cover all aspects of cell-related research and development.
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"Electric mobility is a high growth sector which is R&D intensive. Ola's Battery Innovation Centre in Bangalore will be the cornerstone for core cell tech development and battery innovation out of India for the world. BIC will house advanced labs and high-tech equipment for battery innovation and will power India's journey towards becoming a global EV hub," said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Ola Electric, in a statement.
He also added that, "BIC will have the wherewithal to develop complete packages of battery pack design, fabrication and testing under one roof. It will also be equipped with an integrated facility for hand-in-hand nanoscale analysis to develop new battery material."
According to Kotak Institutional Equities report, taking the Ola fire incidents into consideration, Ola will begin mass production of its cell from its upcoming gigafactory by 2023. It expects the current cell cost of $150 per kilowatt hour to reduce to $100 per kWh as it moves this in-house from its current vendor, LG Chem. The company expects this move to lead to a 10 to 20 per cent reduction in the total cost and an 8.5 per cent improvement at the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization level.
As per recent reports, Ola Electric had unveiled its indigenously manufactured lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170. According to company statement, the use of specific chemistry and materials enable the cell to pack more energy in a given space and also improves the overall life cycle of the cell. It has been developed keeping the indigenous conditions at the core.