India's Ola Electric is working to build solid-state batteries and expects its vehicles to be powered by its own cells next year, Reuters reports.

Chairman Bhavish Aggarwal said: "We are in very early stages of our experimentation on solid state batteries.”

He also said that he expects Ola's own cells to power its electric scooters by early next year, when commercial production begins at its cell 'gigafactory' in Tamil Nadu state, in south India.

Localising cell manufacturing is seen as a key step in bringing down upfront costs of EVs, with cell sourcing among the biggest costs for most EV makers, Reuters noted.

At present, Ola does not produce its own cells but sources them from South Korea's LG Energy Solution and China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).

The factory, owned by a unit of Ola Electric, has been selected for the government's battery manufacturing incentive scheme.