Ola Electric is working on building solid-state batteries and expects to power its vehicles with its own cells by next year, according to founder and chairman Bhavish Aggarwal. “We are in very early stages of our experimentation on solid-state batteries,” Aggarwal said.
Ola aims to have its electric scooters, some of India’s best-sellers, powered by these cells by early next year, with commercial production starting at its cell ‘gigafactory’ in Tamil Nadu. This factory has been selected for the government’s battery manufacturing incentive scheme.
Solid-state batteries are known for better safety, longer lifespan, and faster charging compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. However, they are challenging to produce due to raw material constraints and high costs.
Currently, Ola sources its cells from LG Energy Solution in South Korea and Contemporary Amperex Technology in China. Local cell manufacturing is crucial to reducing EV costs, as sourcing cells is a major expense for EV makers.
Ola has started producing the more efficient 4680 battery cells for testing, which are more efficient than the widely used 2170 cells. These 4680 cells have received key domestic certification. The company plans to produce about 1.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of cells annually, with an investment of $100 million.