According to brokerage reports, has invested up to $100 million in research and development for its battery cells. This expenditure seems to have worked out as CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced on Twitter that the company has created its first indigenous battery cell this week.
“The cell is the heart of the EV revolution. We need to make our own technology to scale faster and innovate,” tweeted Aggarwal. “Much more in the pipeline on our cell technology roadmap!”
According to the ICICI and Edelweiss brokerage reports seen by The Economic Times, the battery cells are the most expensive component in electric vehicle manufacturing. With a new li-ion cell of its own, Ola Electric could theoretically reduce costs by 30 percent.
Unsurprisingly, the company allocated strong resources for the project. In addition to the $100 million spent, it also had 200 researchers working on the process.
At the moment, Ola Electric purchases its electric cells from South Korean manufacturer LG Chem. With the newly-discovered technology, it will aim to manufacture at a 20GWh capacity to reduce its dependency on LG Chem. The company is hoping to develop its in-house capability by 2026.
