Ola unveils own lithium-ion cell for EVs to cater to 'indigenous conditions'

Ola's in-house lithium-ion cell is likely to go into production in 2023

Electric vehicles company Ola has unveiled a lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170, built in-house.

Ola said in a statement on Tuesday it will begin the mass production of its cell from its upcoming Gigafactory by 2023.

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

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Founder and CEO, Ola Electric, Bhavish Aggarwal noted that a cell is the heart of the EV revolution.

"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," Aggarwal said.

"Our first indigenously made Li-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,” he added.

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The company said it is committed to invest in core R&D to create indigenous advanced cell technologies, strengthen manufacturing capabilities and create an integrated Ola Electric Vehicles hub.

It was recently allocated 20GWh capacity under the ACC PLI scheme by the Government for developing advanced cells in India, the company said, adding that it is setting up a cell manufacturing facility with an initial capacity of upto 20 GWh, localising the most critical part of the EV value chain.

Ola said it is also recruiting top cell R&D talent across the globe, and will employ 500 PhDs and Engineers.