Ola Electric, an Indian manufacturer of EVs, has announced the launch of Ola Futurefoundry, a global center for advanced engineering and vehicle design, in Coventry, UK.
The company said that Ola Futurefoundry will work in sync with design and engineering teams based at the Ola Campus in Bangalore, India. It will house international talent across multiple disciplines including two-wheel and four-wheel vehicle design, advanced high-performance automotive engineering, digital and physical modeling and more. Engineers at the site will also focus on vehicle R&D and new energy systems including cell technologies.
“We want to create a world-class design and R&D team with global sensibilities. Ola Futurefoundry is an important step in building a multi-disciplinary team that is agile, flexible and responsive to the various needs of our consumers around the world. We are setting up in Coventry a global epicenter of automotive and technology talent. Futurefoundry will supplement and collaborate with our core team in Bangalore, India, to deliver exciting new EVs across two-wheeler, four-wheeler and other form factors,” remarked Wayne Burgess, VP of vehicle design at Ola Electric.
Ola said it will invest more than US$100m in the center over the next five years and staff it with more than 200 designers and automotive engineers. The facility will also partner with education and research institutions in the UK to collaborate on technology research and development.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder and CEO of Ola, added, “At Ola we are building the future of mobility and continue to attract the best global talent across disciplines. Ola Futurefoundry will enable us to tap into the fantastic automotive design and engineering talent in the UK to create the next generation of electric vehicles. Futurefoundry will work in close collaboration with our headquarters in Bangalore, India, to help us build the future of mobility as we make EVs affordable across the world.”