Electric scooter maker Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. is on track to deliver its first four-wheeled vehicle in the second half of 2024, according to Chief Financial Officer GR Arun Kumar.
In an interview in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Kumar said the manufacturer and ride-hailing company is focusing on the advanced stages of design and benefiting from the sharing of some of the technologies deployed in its two-wheeler products.
“Software, security systems, electronics, batteries, drivetrains — a lot of it is common,” Kumar said on the sidelines of the India Energy Week forum. “We think we have a 30%-40% ratio.”
Last year, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal said the company aimed to price its first car below $50,000 and make components such as lithium-ion cells and batteries in-house to keep costs down. Ola aims to compete with local rivals Tesla Inc, Hyundai Motor Co and Tata Group in India’s electric vehicle market, which consultancy RBSA Advisors predicts will be worth more than $150 billion by 2030.
Also read: Ola Electric promises its first car will be the fastest of all electric cars in India and offer 500 km of range
Kumar said Ola has also made progress towards its goal of eventually building 100 GWh of battery manufacturing capacity by adding local factories.
“We should get to about 10 GWh in 18 to 24 months and 20 GWh in 36 months,” he said.
Also read: Ola Electric sells over 18,000 S1 Pro and S1 electric scooters in January
According to Kumar, in addition to its own consumption, Ola may also sell lithium-ion batteries to other parties for use in vehicles, grid balancing or energy storage.
“We are very open to selling out. It all depends on what happens on the demand side,” he said.
First published date: Feb 8, 2023 at 16:09 PM CST
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