A major spat is brewing in the electric vehicle world, involving India’s Ola Electric and the South Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution. Ola is denying explosive reports that it used stolen proprietary technology from LG to develop its batteries.
The controversy stems from South Korean media reports alleging a former LG researcher leaked “core national technology” related to pouch-type batteries to Ola. This has triggered an investigation by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
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Ola, however, is firing back, calling the allegations “baseless” and “motivated.” The company’s defense hinges on a crucial technical distinction. Ola stated the claims are absurd because the leaked tech pertains to an “old and dated pouch cell” design. This, Ola claims, is a technology it doesn’t even use, nor does it have any “commercial interest” in.
Instead, Ola is pointing to its new, indigenously developed “4680 Bharat Cell,” a modern cylindrical battery that just entered mass production at its gigafactory. The company alleges this dispute isn’t about theft, but fear.
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This is not the first time Ola has found itself in a controversy. The company is already facing intense scrutiny from its electric scooter customers over the product’s reliability. Social media is flooded with complaints about the company.
Ola has positioned itself as a champion of India’s “Make in India” initiative, building its brand on self-reliance. With the company having recently filed for significant government incentives under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for its battery manufacturing, these allegations couldn’t come at a worse time.
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