Ola Developing Indigenous Cell, Alternate Tech for Rare Earth Magnet, says Bhavish Agarwal

Ola Electric has outlined bold plans under its Gen 3 programme, including the launch of the indigenously developed Bharat Cell and AI-based MoveOS software for its EV offerings, a top company official disclosed on Friday.

The company has also started working on Ferrite motor technology at its Krishnagiri unit, a milestone to cut its dependence on rare earth magnets, Ola Electric founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced.

Addressing the firm's annual function Sankalp, organized under the theme India Inside, Aggarwal said, "We launched Ola Electric four years back. (Today) We are going to take you through the vision for New India, a robust India, an India that is self-reliant in the electric vehicle space. We want to become the world's number one electric vehicle company."

He again emphasized how self-reliance is the need of the times in today's world, stating, "The key message to all of you today is the world is in a complex geopolitical situation, such as imposing 50 per cent tariffs.We are going to make the best in India, and that's the spirit of Ola Electric. That's why the theme India Inside."

Revealing Ola's newest innovation, Aggarwal reported that Bharat Cell 4680 was designed completely in-house at the Krishnagiri facility of the company. This future-ready battery offers faster charging, improved safety, and reduced production costs.

Ola R&D Head Rajesh Mekkat said the new cell has a 15-year life, five times the capacity of competitors and can be charged up to 80% in 15 minutes. For comparison, he said, competitor cells take about 30 minutes for just 50% charge. In the long term, Ola intends to roll out the Bharat Cell in all its vehicles.

The launch also included the introduction of the Ola Pro Sport scooter that is powered with the new battery technology.

Aggarwal launched the Ferrite Motor, a sustainable option to rare earth magnets, which are largely dominated by few nations. "India needs to skip a generation because these rare earth magnets are being sourced from very few countries," he stressed.

Ola's Vehicle Engineering Head Samraj Dhinakar further stated that Ferrite motors will become a prominent alternative technology in the EV space. While Aggarwal did not reveal investment numbers for the project, he assured that cars with this motor will hit the road by Q3 of the present fiscal year, phased out over a period as they move away from rare earth magnet usage.

In addition to hardware, Ola also unveiled its AI-based MoveOS6. The new operating system will allow users to save battery life, provide voice assistant features, and feature collision alerts, blind spot monitoring, and support for 11 Indian languages, according to Head of Software Engineering Anirbhan Das.

The new software will be deployed on both new and existing customers from January 2026.

Under the Gen 3 brand, Aggarwal also introduced the prototype Diamond Head electric motorcycle, which he claimed would revolutionize performance biking. With a price target of below ₹5 lakh, the motorcycle will pack cutting-edge technologies, such as remote summon self-driving, and will go from 0–100 kmph in a mere 2 seconds.

"Whatever we do here will be groundbreaking. We want to revolutionize the face of (electric) two-wheelers forever. A rider becomes the ride with Diamond Head. It will be the world's best-looking and performance bike. We are looking at launching it in mid-2027 and have set a target to price it below ₹5 lakh," Aggarwal stated.