Ola to invest $500 million in battery innovation and indigenous cell R&D

Ola Electric, India's largest electric vehicles company, on Monday said it will invest $500 million in setting 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 Center (BIC)' in Bengaluru. It will be one of the world's largest and 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, Ola Electric said in a statement.

"Electric mobility is a high growth sector which is R&D intensive. Ola's Battery Innovation Center 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, of Ola Electric.

Ola's BIC will host Proto lines that can produce all form factors Cylindrical, Pouch, Coin, Prismatic cells. The world-class innovation centre will have the capabilities to develop complete packages of battery pack design, fabrication and testing under one roof.

BIC will also be equipped with in-house production capability of mg to kg scale of anode and cathode material, integrated facility for Hand in Hand Nanoscale analysis and Molecular Dynamics simulation and an in-house crystal structure analysis to develop new battery materials.

Ola Electric said it will recruit "top global talent including 500 PhDs and engineers who will be supported by an additional 1000 researchers in India and multiple other global centres".

Ola's BIC will be equipped with physical characteristics labs that have high-tech research equipments including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy machines (XPS), the latest Gen 3 CT scan equipment for the Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) for cell and pack imaging, a double planetary mixer, lab slot die coater, electrode fabrication unit, an automated assembly line for manufacturing cylindrical & pouch cells among others.

Ola recently unveiled its first Li-ion cell, NMC 2170. Built in-house, Ola will begin the mass production of its cell from its upcoming Gigafactory by 2023. The company was recently also allocated 20GWh capacity under the ACC PLI scheme by the Government of India for developing advanced cells in India, and is setting up a cutting-edge cell manufacturing facility with an initial capacity of upto 20 GWh, localising the most critical part of the EV value chain.

( With inputs from ANI )