Ola to invest USD 500 million in battery innovation and indigenous cell R&D

Ola Electric, India’s largest electric vehicles company, today announced the investment of USD 500 million for setting up its state-of-the-art Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bangalore. BIC will be one of the world’s largest and most advanced cell R&D facilities with more than 165 unique and cutting-edge lab equipment to cover all aspects of cell related research and development. Ola’s BIC will host Proto lines that can produce all form factors Cylindrical, Pouch, Coin, Prismatic cells. The world-class innovation center will have capabilities to develop complete packages of battery pack design, fabrication and testing under one roof. BIC will also be equipped with in-house production capability of mg to kg scale of anode and cathode material, integrated facility for Hand in Hand Nanoscale analysis and Molecular Dynamics simulation and an in-house crystal structure analysis to develop new battery materials. Ola’s BIC will recruit top global talent including 500 PhDs and engineers who will be supported by an additional 1000 researchers in India and multiple other global centers. Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Ola Electric, said, “Electric mobility is a high growth sector which is R&D intensive. Ola’s Battery Innovation Center in Bangalore will be the cornerstone for core cell tech development and