Ola Electric plans to build a 50 GWh battery plant in India
Ola Electric’s initial plan is to install 1GWh of battery capacity by 2023 and to increase it to 20GWh over the next 3-4 years.
As part of its broader electrification push, Softbank Group-backed Ola Electric plans to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in India with a capacity of up to 50 gigawatt hours (GWh).
As reported by a news agency, the electric scooter maker will need 40GWh of battery capacity to meet its target of producing 10 million scooters each year. While the remaining 10GWh of battery capacity will be used towards electric cars, which the company plans to manufacture in the future.
As per available information, Ola Electric’s initial plan is to install 1GWh of battery capacity by 2023 and to increase it to 20GWh over the next 3-4 years. This will require an investment of up to $1 billion.
In addition, Ola intends on investing in companies with advanced battery technology, as well as establishing a battery research and development facility in India. The company is currently importing battery cells from South Korea.
Currently, a few Asian manufacturers dominate the battery cell market. These include CATL, LG Energy Solutions, and Panasonic, which supply major automakers like Tesla Inc. and Volkswagen. According to some of the biggest manufacturers, a large-scale production of EV batteries is not only quite challenging, but it also involves setting up an extremely complex supply chain that carries both geo-political and corporate risks.
In response to questions from Reuters, Ola Electric’s chief marketing officer Varun Dubey said the company is committed to battery and cell research and manufacturing and the plans are in advanced stages. However he did not comment on the specifics.
For India’s oil import bill to be cut and pollution to be reduced, companies are being asked to build clean fuel vehicles and batteries locally. As part of this, the government plans to offer up to $6 billion in incentives. Ola is one of the companies bidding for this.
As of now, Ola produces about 1,000 scooters per day, and aims to produce two million scooters in the first phase of the project, according to its CEO. The company has however given no clear indication as by when it would scale up to two million or ten million scooters.
Although the company hasn’t yet ramped up scooter production to a considerable level, the battery plans are nonetheless intriguing.
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