Ola Electric unveils its first lithium-ion cell, mass production to commence by 2023

Homegrown electric vehicle (EV) maker Ola Electric has unveiled its indigenously manufactured lithium-ion cell NMC 2170. Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder, and CEO, Ola Electric took to Twitter as he announced the company’s plans to expand its cell technology game and thus, reduce the dependency on imports for EV manufacturing.

“The cell is the heart of the EV revolution. We need to make our own technology to scale faster and innovate. Much more in the pipeline on our cell technology roadmap,” said Aggarwal.

Ola Electric said that it will begin the mass production of its in-house cell from its Chennai-based Gigafactory by 2023.

“The use of specific chemistry and materials enables the cell to pack more energy in a given space and also improves the overall life cycle of the cell. It has been developed keeping the indigenous conditions at the core,” said the company in a statement.

Talking about the development, Aggarwal said, “Ola is building the world’s most advanced cell research centre that will enable us to scale and innovate faster, and build the most advanced and affordable EV products in the world with speed. Our first indigenously made lithium-ion cell is also the first of many in our cell technology roadmap. Having a robust local EV ecosystem is important for India to become a global EV hub.”

The Bengaluru-based EV maker was recently 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. Ola Electric said it is also recruiting top cell R&D talent across the globe and will employ 500 PhDs and Engineers.