Ola Electric, buffeted by a multitude of problems (involving its products as well its personnel), could do with some good news. And finally it has come: The company has unveiled its in-house developed lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170. Ola said it will begin the mass production of the cell from its upcoming gigafactory near its FutureFactory by 2023.
The company's CEO Bhavish Aggarwal took to Twitter and said, "Our first indigenously manufactured Li-ion cell! The cell is the heart of the EV revolution. We need to build our own technology to expand and innovate rapidly. A lot in the pipeline on our cell technology roadmap!"
Ola was recently allocated 20GWh capacity under the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) PLI scheme by the government for developing advanced cells in India. The company is setting up a cell manufacturing facility with an initial capacity of upto 20 GWh, localising the important part of the EV value chain.
Ola's plans for battery manufacture
Our first indigenously made Li-ion cell!The cell is the heart of the EV revolution. We need to make our own technology to scale faster and innovate. Much more in the pipeline on our cell technology roadmap! pic.twitter.com/pwywihRxBCJuly 11, 2022
Ola said the state-of-the-art High Nickel Cylindrical Ola Cell uses NMC (Nickel, Manganese and Cobalt) on the cathode side and graphite and silicon on the anode side. The use of specific chemistry and materials enables the cell to pack more energy in a given space and also improves the overall life cycle of the cell. The cell has been developed keeping the indigenous conditions in mind, Ola added.
Lithium-ion cell batteries are widely used in the EV industry. Its smaller versions are already used in mobile phones and laptops. Lithium-ion batteries have better power-to-weight ratio, the mileage per charge is high. It has a low self-discharge level, making it easy to maintain. Also, most components of the Li-ion batteries can be recycled.
Ola, which makes electric scooters S1 and S1 Pro Pro, has also invested in an Israeli technology company StoreDot that specialises in batteries with extreme fast charging (XFC) technology.
Thanks to the investment in StoreDot, Ola Electric will have access to the former's state-of-the-art XFC battery technology that charges a battery from 0 to 100% in just 5 minutes. Ola will manufacture batteries integrating StoreDot's fast charge technology in India.
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