Ola Electric in talks with battery makers to build new plant in India

Ola Electric, one of the biggest electric scooter makers in the country is looking to build a battery cell manufacturing plant. The Indian company is looking for a global partner to establish this plant. This new plant will enable the electric vehicle maker to be less dependent on foreign markets for the component that is the most expensive part of an EV.

The company is currently in talks with multiple global suppliers to build a battery cell manufacturing plant with a capacity of up to 50-gigawatt hours, according to a report by PTI. Additionally, Ola Electric also plans to invest in companies with advanced cell and battery technology.

The report suggests that Ola Electric needs 40 Gwh of battery capacity to power 10 million electric scooters annually. Surprisingly, Ola is also preparing for its electric four-wheeler and it plans to use the remaining 10-gigawatt hours for the electric car. The report suggests that Ola’s new cell battery plant may cost around $1 billion (over Rs 7,700 crore) and may be built with an initial capacity of 1 Gwh, which will be expanded in the future.

The sources quoted in the report claimed that over 40 global suppliers are in Bengaluru to meet with Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal at the company’s headquarters. These company executives will also visiting the Ola Futurefactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu this week.

The EV company is in talks with suppliers from Germany, Korea, Japan and other hubs in order to realize the dream of battery manufacturing. Currently Ola Electric is importing its batteries from South Korea. The report suggests that Ola plans to make this plant functional by next year. The aggressive plan almost mirrors the launch of the electric scooter.

Ola has grand plans to make the entire ecosystem indigenous. This includes the making of cell and battery tech, interconnected as well as autonomous vehicle technologies. The company chief Aggarwal has boldly claimed that India will soon replace China as the hub for EVs.

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