Ola invests in StoreDot in bid to bring its 5-minute charging batteries to Ola’s fast electric scooters

Ola Electric, one of the leading electric scooter manufacturers in India, has announced today that it has made a strategic investment in the Israeli battery company StoreDot.

StoreDot is perhaps best known for its ultra fast-charging silicon-based battery cells, which can be recharged in just five minutes.

The battery company recently declared that it will deliver battery cells capable of achieving a charge of 100 miles (160 km) of range in just five minutes.

Ola shared that as part of the investment in StoreDot, “Ola Electric will have access to the company’s state of the art XFC battery technology that charges a battery from 0 to 100% in just 5 minutes. Ola will also have exclusive rights to manufacture batteries integrating StoreDot’s fast-charge technology in India.”

StoreDot says that they will be able to further improve that fast-charging performance, getting the charge rate for 100 miles down to just two minutes by the end of this decade.

Ola’s S1 Pro electric scooter, which debuted last year, is an over 70 mph (115 km) electric two-wheeler produced locally in the company’s massive FutureFactory.

The company also plans to open its own gigafactory to produce battery cells demanded by its high rate of electric scooter production.

Ola has set a target of producing 2 million electric scooters per year at the factory.

Discussing the strategic investment, Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said:

We are committed to Mission Electric and to accelerate the world’s transition to electric mobility, our ambition is to build a complete ecosystem for EVs here in India. The future of EVs lies in better, faster and high energy density batteries, capable of rapid charging and delivering higher range. We are increasing our investments in core cell and battery technologies and ramping up our in-house capabilities and global talent hiring, as well as partnering with global companies doing cutting edge work in this field. Our partnership with StoreDot, a pioneer of extreme fast charging battery technologies, is of strategic importance and a first of many.

The current version of the Ola S1 Pro electric scooter offers a claimed range of 181 km (112 miles), but its 4 kWh battery is not removable like in many other electric scooters. That means the scooter must be plugged in to charge like an electric car.

The inclusion of ultra fast-charging batteries like those developed by StoreDot could allow the scooter to be recharged in the time it takes to buy a cup of coffee.

Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot, expanded upon the announcement:

We are extremely excited to be entering into this strategic partnership with Ola. Both companies are committed to delivering a zero-emissions world, breathing clean air in our cities and ensuring that EV drivers never have to worry about charging times and range anxiety. Ola Electric’s plans to bring StoreDot’s extreme fast charging battery technology to India and manufacture for its range of EVs will offer Indian consumers vastly superior range and charging speed performance. We are also offering our customers a clear, hype-free technology roadmap that will extend far into the future of delivering 100 miles of range in just a 2-minute charge, within a decade.