Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal announced that the company is investing $100 million in the initial phase of building its gigafactory in Tamil Nadu, aimed at producing indigenous lithium-ion batteries.
The company plans to power its electric vehicles with its own battery cells by early next year, replacing the batteries currently sourced from Korea and China. Aggarwal believes that in-house battery production will reduce costs and improve profitability, though passing these benefits to consumers will depend on market conditions.
Additionally, Ola Electric is developing solid-state batteries at its Battery Innovation Centre in Bengaluru, which it claims will reduce the risk of battery fires. However, this technology is still in the research phase, and Aggarwal acknowledges that providing a timeline for completion is challenging as solid-state battery technology is nascent globally, with companies like Toyota Motors and Nissan also working on similar innovations.
Ola’s gigafactory boasts an all-women workforce for EV manufacturing. Addressing recent reports suggesting that Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, one of Ola’s suppliers, has excluded married women from its iPhone plant workforce, Aggarwal commented, “Women are more disciplined and dexterous on the floor. There are more women at the junior level, and you might see some men in managerial positions due to a lack of qualified women at that level. Even there, we hope to hire more women.”
