The future is electric, and whoever controls the battery supply is about to control the world – and now, India has entered the game!
Ola Electric, the scooter manufacturer based in Bangalore, India, has long held local design and manufacturing as a central tenet of its mission. Now, this includes a lithium-ion battery cell for their scooters.
CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced on Twitter on July 11 that Ola has its own, indigenously made li-ion cell. “We need to make our own technology to scale faster and innovate,” said a company spokesperson, in a statement.
Currently, Ola has been purchasing battery cells from LG Chem in South Korea. Since the most expensive part in any EV is the battery, then producing batteries locally may reduce prices for Ola’s customers.
Ola hopes to start manufacturing its NMC 21700 cell in bulk at its Chennai-based gigafactory by 2023, which will meet growing market needs. Currently, there are 1.2 million EVs in India, and by the end of 2022, that number is expected to grow to 4 million – with electric two-wheelers like the Ola S1 leading the charge. (Sorry!)
You can watch this twenty minute, in-depth introduction to the Ola S1, below, then let us know what you think of India’s entry into the li-ion fray in the comments.
Introducing the Ola Scooter
SOURCE | IMAGES: OLA, VIA RIDE APART.
