Bengaluru-based company Ola Electric which manufacturers two-wheeler electric bikes, on Tuesday, unveiled India’s first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell called the NMC 2170. The company said the mass production of the NMC 2170 cell will begin by next year from its Chennai-based Gigafactory.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder, and CEO, of Ola Electric, said, “A cell is the heart of the EV revolution. Ola is building the world’s most advanced cell research center that will enable us to scale and innovate faster, and build the most advanced and affordable EV products in the world with speed.”
“Having a robust local EV ecosystem is important for India to become a global EV hub,” he added. He also said that the first indigenously made Li-ion cell is also the first of many in the company’s cell technology roadmap.
The company is committed to investing in core R&D to create indigenous advanced cell technologies and creating an integrated Ola Electric Vehicles hub. The company was recently allocated 20 GWh capacity under the ACC PLI scheme by the Government of India for developing advanced cells in the country and is setting up a cell manufacturing facility with an initial capacity of up to 20 GWh, localizing the most critical part of the EV value chain.
The company states that it 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 and has set up the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturing facility in India.
Ola Electric is working towards building a robust roadmap of e-vehicles to accelerate the transition to electric mobility. The company is currently in the process of developing its first electric four-wheeler. We could possibly see Ola electric cars in the country in the upcoming months or in 2023.
