Ola invests $500 million to set up battery innovation center in Bengaluru
Bengaluru:
Ola Electric announced on Monday the $500 million investment to set up its state-of-the-art Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bengaluru.
The electric vehicle company said BIC would be one of the world’s largest and most advanced cell R&D facilities with more than 165 “unique and advanced” laboratory equipment to cover all aspects of cell-related research and development.
“Ola’s BIC will host Proto lines capable of producing all form factors cylindrical, pouch, coin and prismatic cells, it said.
The company said in a statement that the center would be able to develop complete packages for battery design, manufacture and testing under one roof.
“BIC will also be equipped with an in-house production capacity of mg to kg of anode and cathode material, an integrated facility for Hand in Hand Nanoscale analysis and Molecular Dynamics simulation, and an in-house crystal structure analysis to develop new battery materials,” it said.
The company said the BIC would recruit top talent worldwide, including 500 PhDs and engineers who will be supported by an additional 1,000 researchers in India and multiple other global centers.
Ola Electric founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, said electric mobility is a fast-growing sector that is R&D intensive.
“Ola’s Battery Innovation Center in Bangaluru will be the cornerstone for the development of nuclear cell technology and battery innovation from India for the world. BIC will house advanced labs and high-tech equipment for battery innovation and will support India’s journey to become a global EV hub, ” he said.
Ola recently unveiled its first Li-ion cell, NMC 2170. Built in-house, Ola will begin mass-producing its cell from its forthcoming Gigafactory by 2023.
The company has also recently been allocated a capacity of 20 GWh under the Government’s ACC PLI scheme for the development of advanced cells in India and is in the process of establishing a cell production facility with an initial capacity of up to 20 GWh, locating the most critical part of the EV value chain. , was mentioned.
