Ola Electric to expand battery cell capacity to 20 GWh by next year

Ola Electric Mobility plans to expand its battery cell manufacturing capacity from 6 GWh to 20 GWh by next year, supported by fresh capital raised at the cell manufacturing entity level, according to Bhavish Aggarwal, the company’s founder, chairman, and managing director.

Ola Electric operates across two business segments: electric two-wheelers, which currently generate all of its revenue, and battery cells and energy storage solutions.

Aggarwal said 2.5 GWh of the company’s planned 6 GWh gigafactory capacity has already been commissioned, while the remaining 3.5 GWh is expected to come online by the end of June.

“It was supposed to be done a month back, but due to the Iran war, some containers got delayed. But it’s getting done in June,” he said.

Aggarwal said the gigafactory is expected to produce more than 2 GWh of battery cells by the end of September 2026.

For the current year, Ola Electric expects to allocate around 2 GWh of capacity for its in-house automotive business, more than 1 GWh for external automotive sales, and the remaining capacity for its Shakti and Mahashakti battery energy storage solutions.

“Our priority is to make our own cells go into our automotive business first and then as the Gigafactory ramp becomes beyond our automotive requirement then we start scaling up Shakti next. But demand for Shakti also is very high, given that battery storage is a very, very fast-growing thing,” said Aggarwal.

The company said its Shakti battery energy storage product has been developed using platforms derived from its electric two-wheeler business, helping reduce capital expenditure and research and development costs.

Aggarwal said Ola Electric expects strong growth opportunities in battery manufacturing and energy storage, supported by anticipated domestic procurement mandates for battery energy storage system (BESS) deployments and localization of the battery supply chain.

The company said it has developed its own domestic battery intellectual property, which has enabled it to scale gigafactory operations with commercially viable yields and pricing.