Ola, the ride-hailing cab platform’s CEO Bhavish Aggarwal took to X on July 5, to announce a switch for the company from Google Maps to Ola Maps following its recent exit from Microsoft’s platform Azure.
The tweet read, “After Azure exit last month, we’ve now fully exited Google Maps. We used to spend ₹100 crore a year, but we’ve made that 0 this month by moving completely to our in-house Ola Maps! Check your Ola app and update if needed.” As the tweet clarifies, the move should make an annual saving of Rs 100 crore for the company.
Ola Cabs are set to include features such as street view, neural radiance fields (NERFs), indoor images, 3D maps, drone maps, and more as per an earlier announcement by the founder. The firm plans to integrate Ola Maps in its electric two-wheelers as well through a software update in January.
This follows the cab-hailing site’s announcement of its plans for cloud services and mapping solutions at the launch of Krutium AI, its proprietary AI company. Aggarwal had declared in May a transfer of operations for Ola Group from Azure to Krutium within a week.
Bengaluru-headquartered Ola Electric is also planning on developing solid-state batteries to power their electric scooters backed by SoftBank Group. The founder had earlier shared that the company is in the very early stages of its experimentation for the same.
He added that the innovative cells would be put to use by the beginning of next year with the commercial production for the same being established at Ola’s cell ‘gigafactory’ in Southern Tamil Nadu.
Solid-state batteries assume enhanced safety features, longer lifespan, and faster charging times compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries, which use flammable liquid electrolytes. But the manufacturing has been a challenge for the firm due to limited raw material availability, complex manufacturing processes, and high costs.
The gigafactory, which is operated by an Ola Electric subsidiary, aligns with the Indian government’s battery manufacturing incentive initiative that aims to promote local production capabilities and limit imports.
