As part of its wider electrification drive, the company plans to invest in companies with advanced cell and battery technology, in addition to its 50 Gwh battery plant.
Ola Electric needs 40 Gwh of battery capacity to power 10 million electric scooters annually. The rest is intended for its electric cars, which the company plans to produce in the future.
Sources said the cell battery factory could cost about $1 billion (more than Rs 7,700 crore) and could be built with an initial capacity of 1 Gwh, which will be expanded in the future.
More than 40 global suppliers are already in Bengaluru to meet
Ola Electric, they said, has begun talks with global suppliers from Germany, Korea, Japan and other hubs to fuel its battery manufacturing ambitions.
It currently imports its battery cells from South Korea.
Companies like Drr and Siemens also seem to be on the list of suppliers.
The battery cell manufacturing sector is dominated by companies such as CATL, LG, Energy Solutions and Panasonic, which supply carmakers such as Tesla and Volkswagen.
Industry experts believe that one of the world’s youngest EV companies is eager to start producing cells next year.
Aggarwal has already stated that India may soon replace China and become the global hub for electric vehicles (EVs).
To that end, Ola plans to develop the entire ecosystem: cell and battery technology, global supply chains, interconnected and autonomous vehicle technologies.
Ola Electric is the only Indian car and EV company selected by the government under its ambitious Rs 80,000 crore cell PLI scheme to set up an advanced cell manufacturing plant in 2 years.
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) cell’s bid was for the maximum permitted bidding capacity of 20 GWh.
According to sources, Ola also plans to set up an even larger 50 GWh gigafactory and battery innovation center to support its two-wheeler and four-wheeler roadmap for India and the world.
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