Ola Elec to invest $100 million in its gigafactory
Ola Elec to invest $100 million in its gigafactory
BENGALURU: Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal said the company is investing $100 million in the initial phase of building its gigafactory to produce indigenous lithium-ion batteries at its facility in Tamil Nadu.
The company aims 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, although the decision to pass on the benefits to consumers will depend on market conditions.
The company is also 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 it is difficult to provide a timeline for completion, as solid-state battery technology is still nascent globally, with companies like Toyota Motors and Nissan also working on similar technology.
Ola's gigafactory operates an all-women factory for EV manufacturing. In contrast to recent reports suggesting that Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, one of Ola's suppliers, has excluded married women from its iPhone plant workforce, Aggarwal said, "Women are more disciplined and dexterous on the floor. There are more women in the junior level and you would have seen some men in the factory. Those are at the managerial level. We don't find a lot of qualified women at the managerial level and end up hiring men. Even there, we hope to hire more women."
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