In less than six months, Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. will become the first Indian EV maker to power its scooters with cells manufactured in-house.
India's largest electric two-wheeler maker will power its Ola Gig and Ola S1 Z scooters with the 4680 Bharat Cell, which is currently under production at the company's Gigafactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu.
"The @OlaElectric Gig and S1 Z will be the first products with 4680 Bharat cell!! Coming April 2025," Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal posted on X.
The @OlaElectric Gig and S1 Z will be the first products with our 4680 Bharat cell!! Coming April 2025 🙂🔋 pic.twitter.com/9reDMHykTv
On Nov. 26, the Bengaluru-based automaker launched four low-cost scooters — Ola Gig, Ola Gig+, Ola S1 Z and the Ola S1 Z+ — at an introductory ex-showroom price of Rs 39,999 onwards. These models feature removable batteries which, when drained, can be swapped for a fully charged one at a battery-swapping terminal. Ola Electric is targeting gig economy workers in cities, and students and working professionals in rural and semi-urban India, with its latest offerings.
Ola Electric wants to become self-reliant on cells from 2025, Aggarwal had told NDTV Profit in an interview on June 28 ahead of its initial public offering in August.
"The trial production (of the 4680 Bharat Cell) commenced a few weeks ago. We are going through a series of checks over the next six-to-nine months to get ready for commercial production," Aggarwal had said then. "So, early next year…is when our own cells will come into our own vehicles."
The portable battery that powers Ola Electric's Gig and S1 Z scooters. (Photo: Company)
India does not make any EV battery cells at the moment. They are imported largely from China and South Korea. They make up roughly a third of the cost of an electric vehicle in India.
There is a production-linked incentive scheme for manufacturing advanced chemistry cells in India, but only Ola Electric — a beneficiary of 20 GWh — has made some headway towards commercial production. The company plans to invest $100 million in the first phase to build a 5 GWh production capacity, enough to power 1.2 million Ola Electric scooters.
The ability to develop and manufacture in-house cells brings with it cost as well as competitive advantage. "The biggest and costliest component in EVs is the battery, and that's where we started focusing on building our own cell four years ago," Aggarwal had said during the interview.
"So, over the past four years, we built a lab to prove our technology. The next step was the gigafactory… which will eventually become a 20 GWh facility," he had said. "When we complete Phase 1, through all of next year, we will have enough capacity to serve ourselves by that time, as well as potentially sell to other automakers."
Shares of Ola Electric were trading 0.09% lower at Rs 98.45 apiece on the National Stock Exchange, compared to a 0.08% advance in the benchmark Nifty at 3:25 p.m.
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