Ola Electric looking to set up 50GWh battery plant in India: Report

Ola Electric has been hard at work to expand its footprint in India and is now planning to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in the country. According to a report by Reuters, the company is looking to set up a battery cell manufacturing plant in India with a capacity of up to 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

Ola currently requires 40GWh of battery capacity to meet its annual target to produce 10 million electric scooters. The rest of the 10GWh batteries will be used for electric cars, that the company is looking to manufacture in the near future.

The report citing another source states that the initial plan for the company was to set up a 1GHw battery capacity by 2023 and expand it to 20GWh over the next 3-4 years. The report further states that this 1GWh battery capacity plant will itself require an investment of up to $1 billion.

Ola currently imports battery cells from South Korea. The report further states that the company is looking to invest in companies with advanced cell and battery technology, and will set up a battery research and development facility in India.

Currently, the battery cell manufacturing landscape is dominated by a handful of Asian companies, which include CATL, LG Energy Solutions and Panasonic. If Ola were to set up its own manufacturing plant, then it will not have to rely on third-party companies for supplies.

While Ola Electric has ambitious plans, it has had a rocky start, considering that the company faced a lot of production and delivery delays for its Ola S1 electric scooters. It also saw a number of senior-level exits during the time period.

The battery plans seem to have come forward as the company looks to ramp up its electric scooter production levels. The company currently manufactures around 1,000 scooters per day according to its CEO. It has a target of two million in the first phase.

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