Yet Another Big Announcement Arrives From Ola - No! It’s Not About A New Car

The company’s latest plan will ensure that all of its upcoming EVs can conform to high levels of localisation and thereby be affordable

• Ola announces a $500 million (nearly Rs 4,000 crore) Battery Innovation Centre in Bengaluru. 

• It will be the biggest battery R&D centre in Asia with the state-of-the-art equipment. 

• This move will help Ola in developing more affordable EVs in a shorter period of time. 

• Ola Electric has teased multiple EVs, including an SUV-coupe, a large sedan and a hatchback. 

Ola has announced a $500 million (approx Rs 4,000 crore) investment for setting up its Battery Innovation Centre in Bengaluru. The ride hailing giant will build a state-of-the-art battery R&D centre which will be the largest and most advanced in Asia as per the brand. 

Sharing something I’m personally very passionate about! Building a state of the art Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bangalore. BIC will be one of worlds largest, most advanced cell R&D facility. 500+ engineers & PhDs, $500mn investment. Will be up & running next month! pic.twitter.com/ZuPMUMjy9O

— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) July 18, 2022

The innovation centre will boast of over 165 ‘unique and cutting-edge’ lab equipment to cover all aspects of a cell. The designing, testing and development of a battery pack will be done at the centre. This would further help Ola to quickly adapt and develop affordable EVs. Ola recently unveiled its first Li-ion cell, NMC 2170, which will be mass-produced from 2023. 

With an in-house battery development centre, Ola can manage to keep prices of its EVs aggressive, since the level of localisation will be more. While the S1 electric scooter is already on sale, Ola is going to unveil its electric car concepts on August 15. 

• Upcoming Electric Cars In India

Ola has teased three electric cars, including a hatchback and coupe-style SUV and sedan. Going by the earlier statements of Ola officials, the electric hatch could be a sub-Rs 10 lakh offering. The company also seems keen to bring autonomous driving technology, which could be seen on its upcoming products.