The company will be meeting 40 global suppliers and may spend $1 Bn dollars on the plant
Ola Electric is in talks with a number of global suppliers to develop a battery cell manufacturing plant in India with a capacity of up to 50-gigawatt hours (Gwh) hours in order to ramp up production of its e-scooters.
This new plant will allow the electric car manufacturer to become less reliant on overseas markets for the most expensive component of an electric vehicle (EV). The factory might cost up to $1 billion (over INR 7,700 Cr). According to sources, it may be built with a 1 Gwh initial capacity that will be enhanced in the future.
Read more- Ola to buy Avail Finance led by founder’s brother
Ola Electric in search of global suppliers
More than 40 worldwide EV battery providers are now in Bengaluru, according to PTI, to discuss Ola’s ambitions. Representatives from Germany, Korea, Japan, and other cell manufacturing hotspots have arrived in India to meet Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal at the company’s headquarters. They will also visit the Ola Futurefactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, later this week as a result of their conversations. Companies like Durr and Siemens are also on the prospect list of suppliers.
Currently, the company imports the batteries from Korea.
Ola’s EV aspirations
Image Source – Hindustan Times
Within days of finishing its $200 million investment round at a valuation of $5 billion in January 2022, the business declared its plans to manufacture electric automobiles and uploaded an image of its prototype car on social media.
Industry analysts say that it is one of the world’s newest electric vehicle businesses. However, its eagerness to start cell production next year seemingly would bring optimistic results.
The pioneering company intends to create the complete ecosystem to achieve this goal, including cell and battery technology, worldwide supply chains, and linked as well as autonomous car technologies.
Ola Electric is the first Indian auto and electric vehicle firm to be chosen by the government to build an advanced cell manufacturing factory in two years under the government’s ambitious INR 80,000 crore cell PLI scheme.
Future Plan
Ola is also planning to build a 50 GWh gigafactory and a battery innovation centre to support its two-wheeler and four-wheeler plans for India and the rest of the world, according to sources.
