Ola Electric Mobility to Secure Robust Supply Chains for EV Manufacturing in India
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January 16, 2023Ola Electric Mobility is a leading electric vehicle manufacturing private company in India. The company was set up to accelerate the pace of electric mobility in the country and is currently focusing on producing electric scooters in India. It has a manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu. Ola Electric was founded by Ola Cabs. The company claims to have already sold 1.5 lakh electric scooters in India in 2022 and has announced plans to launch its first four-wheeler by mid-2024.
Ola Electric was also allocated 20GWh capacity under India’s PLI scheme for advanced chemistry cells. India is the world’s fourth-largest auto market. The government has a $2.3 billion incentive program to support advanced battery cell development in which Reliance Industries is among three beneficiary companies, including Ola Electric Mobility as well as Rajesh Exports Ltd. Reliance Industries is building an EV battery facility. Even Suzuki Motor Corp. has plans to invest 100 billion rupees in EV and battery manufacturing in India. This could enable India to establish a strong foothold as an exporter of lithium-ion batteries to European and American markets.
Ola Electric took a step further and committed to the in-house manufacture of motors as well as cells which form the main components in an electric scooter. It has invested $500 million to set up the Bengaluru BIC for battery pack design, fabrication, and testing and also unveiled its first Li-ion cell in the last year. Its upcoming Giga factory is expected to go live by 2023. Ola Electric has now tied up with an Australian firm to buy battery minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, nickel, and titanium to further strengthen its cell and battery manufacturing value chain. Australia is one of the largest global suppliers of battery minerals and also houses mineral processing technologies and is excited to have business relations in India, given the high demand for electrification and strong renewable energy future in India.