Ola's New Battery Innovation Centre Will Be One Of The Largest In The World

• The 11-acre facility will house 165 lab equipment covering all aspects of R and D. 

• USD 500 million, or nearly Rs 4000 crore, is being invested in the BIC facility. 

• Ola plans to recruit 1500 researchers from India and overseas. 

• Will be operational from next month. 

• Batteries will be produced at Ola’s Gigafactory with an initial capacity of 20GWh. 

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Ola has announced that it’s setting up an all-new Battery Innovation Centre (BIC) in Bengaluru for battery research and development (R and D).

The new, modern facility, spanning over 11 acres, will be equipped to cover all aspects of battery research, and will have an in-house prototype manufacturing unit as well. It’ll be up and running from August onwards. 

Powering India's journey towards becoming a global EV hub! 😎🇮🇳 https://t.co/GGMnfCxf16

— Ola Electric (@OlaElectric) July 18, 2022

Ola BIC will develop new batteries 

The BIC facility is equipped to fabricate all forms of battery cells, from regular cylindrical cells used in conventional car batteries to coin cells and prismatic cells. Ola has already come up with its own NMC 2170 lithium-ion battery that will be put into production at the EV maker’s Gigafactory in 2023. 

Ola's Futurefactory in Tamil Nadu will mass-produce batteries

BIC will employ over 500 PhDs and engineers globally and 1,000 researchers in India. Of course, it’ll work in collaboration with multiple global centres as well. 

Here are some of the salient technical features of the upcoming BIC: 

• Electrode fabrication unit for building anode and cathodes from different materials and designs. 

• Automated assembly line for cell production. 

• Non-destructive testing lab and equipment with cell and pack imaging. 

• X-ray spectroscopy and Gen 3 CT scan machines. 

• Nanoscale analysis and molecular dynamics simulation. 

Full-scale battery production at Ola’s Gigafactory 

Ola’s Futurefactory, also known as the Gigafactory, is coming up in Tamil Nadu to produce electric vehicles and batteries. It has been approved by the government to produce up to 20GWh of annual battery capacity (enough to power nearly 5 lakh Tata Nexon EV Max SUVs, for reference). 

Battery packs using Ola’s newest NMC 2170 cell will be produced here when the facility begins operations in 2023. 

Also read: 

• Ola Teases Multiple Electric Models; More Details On August 15

• Ola Develops India’s First Locally Manufactured Lithium-ion cell For Its EVs

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal says, “Ola’s Battery Innovation Center in Bangalore will be the cornerstone for core cell tech development and battery innovation out of India for the world. BIC will house advanced labs and high-tech equipment for battery innovation and will power India’s journey towards becoming a global EV hub.” 

Ola’s BIC will be a boon for localised Lithium battery manufacturing in India, and it could go a long way in reducing battery costs, and, in turn, prices of Ola’s EVs in the country.