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By Piyush P. Yadav | 11 September 2026

The first electric car Hyundai builds on a dedicated EV platform in India will launch in December 2026 with battery cells made in China. That is not what anyone planned. In 2024 Hyundai and Kia signed a co-investment agreement with Exide Energy Solutions to build a dedicated lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cell line at Exide’s new Bengaluru plant, so that their Indian EVs would run on Indian cells and qualify for every localisation incentive the government offers. On 3 August 2026 Exide told analysts the line would not be finished this financial year. Hyundai’s answer, confirmed by its CEO Tarun Garg this month, was to source cells from Svolt Energy Technology of China and keep the launch date. This article explains what Exide is building, why it slipped, who Svolt is, what the switch costs Hyundai, and what the episode says about the wider state of Indian cell manufacturing two years after the first PLI cell plants were supposed to be running.

What Exide is building in Bengaluru

Exide Energy Solutions is the cell-manufacturing subsidiary of Exide Industries, India’s largest lead-acid battery maker. Its Bengaluru plant is designed for 6 GWh of lithium-ion cell output in the first phase, expandable to 12 GWh, and it is unusual in planning two formats at once: nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cylindrical cells and LFP prismatic cells. The technology comes from a licensing agreement with China’s SVOLT, which is a detail that will matter in a moment. Exide has said for two years that commercial production would begin by the end of FY26, and its managing director Avik Roy told analysts in August that the plant was progressing, but that the Hyundai-Kia project was a separate initiative that would not launch in FY27.

The Hyundai-Kia arrangement is not a simple supply contract. Roy described it in August as a co-investment that “is not going to be a complete line. It could be half a line, for customisation.” In other words, Hyundai and Kia are paying for a partially dedicated LFP line built to their cell specification, which means the cells cannot simply be pulled off Exide’s general production. When that line slips, there is no substitute inside the plant.

Item Detail
Plant Exide Energy Solutions, Bengaluru
Capacity 6 GWh phase one, 12 GWh planned
Formats NMC cylindrical and LFP prismatic
Technology partner SVOLT Energy Technology (licence)
Hyundai-Kia agreement Co-investment in a dedicated LFP line, signed 2024
Original readiness Before March 2027
Status, August 2026 Will not launch in FY27; no new date; no reason given

Why the slip forced a choice

Hyundai’s compact electric SUV, codenamed HE1i and built on the E-GMP (K) platform shared with the global Inster, was scheduled for March 2027 with Exide cells. When Exide’s timeline moved past that date, Hyundai faced a choice between delaying its most important Indian EV into FY28 or buying cells elsewhere. It chose the second, and in doing so also pulled the launch forward to December 2026. Garg’s comment to reporters was direct: “We are already ready with the new EV using Svolt cells. Otherwise, the programme could have been delayed.” Hyundai’s stated plan is to switch to Exide’s cells once the Bengaluru line is running. We covered the car itself, its expected price and rivals in our piece on Hyundai’s HE1i compact electric SUV; this article is about the cells.

Who Svolt is, and why the choice is less odd than it looks

Svolt Energy Technology was spun out of Great Wall Motor’s battery division in 2018 and is headquartered in Changzhou, Jiangsu. It is a mid-sized Chinese cell maker, well behind CATL and BYD in volume but with a product line that includes cobalt-free NMx cells and, more relevantly here, LFP prismatic cells in the short-blade format that several European and Chinese carmakers use. Its customers have included Great Wall, Stellantis and a number of Chinese brands.

The reason Svolt is the obvious stopgap is that it is also Exide’s technology licensor. Exide’s LFP prismatic cells are being built to a Svolt design under licence, which means a Svolt-made cell of the same specification is, for engineering purposes, the closest thing to an Exide cell that exists. The battery pack, the module design, the battery management system calibration and the thermal management that Hyundai has validated for the HE1i will carry over when the cell source changes. That is a much smaller engineering risk than swapping to a CATL or BYD cell of a different format would have been, and it is almost certainly why Hyundai can promise a later switch to Exide with a straight face.

What the import costs Hyundai

The cost is not the cell price. Chinese LFP cells are the cheapest in the world, and Svolt’s are unlikely to be more expensive than Exide’s first-year output. The cost is in three places.

  • Customs duty and freight. Imported lithium-ion cells attract basic customs duty plus IGST and the logistics of shipping from Jiangsu. Exide’s plant is 30 km from Hyundai’s cell-to-pack line. On a 42 to 49 kWh pack, the landed-cost difference is meaningful at Rs 10 lakh price points.
  • Domestic value addition. The PLI scheme for automobiles pays incentives only on vehicles that meet a 50 per cent domestic value addition threshold. The cell is the single most expensive component in an EV, and an imported cell makes that threshold much harder to hit. Hyundai has not said whether the early HE1i qualifies.
  • Policy exposure. The government has been steadily tightening localisation rules, most recently the September 2026 traction-motor requirement for buses and trucks. A car launched on imported cells is a visible target if the same logic is extended to passenger vehicles.

None of this changes anything for the buyer. The warranty, the pack and the battery management system are Hyundai’s regardless of who made the cells, and LFP chemistry’s long cycle life applies equally. We compared how each brand’s cover works in our EV battery warranty comparison, and the questions to ask about long-term pack replacement are the same ones we set out in our guide to EV battery replacement costs.

The wider scorecard: who is actually making cells in India

The Exide slip is the third significant delay among India’s cell projects in 18 months, and it is worth laying them side by side. The PLI scheme for advanced chemistry cells, awarded in 2022, promised 50 GWh of capacity; by mid-2026 only a fraction of that is producing, as we detailed in our piece on India’s battery supply chain in 2026.

Company Location Planned capacity Chemistry Status, September 2026
Ola Cell Technologies Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu 5 GWh phase one, 20 GWh planned LFP (Bharat Cell), 4680 NMC Producing; Bharat Cell LFP in the S1 Z from December 2026
Exide Energy Solutions Bengaluru 6 GWh, then 12 GWh NMC cylindrical, LFP prismatic General line progressing; Hyundai-Kia line slipped past FY27
Agratas (Tata) Sanand, Gujarat 20 GWh phase one, 40 GWh planned NMC and LFP Under construction; first output targeted 2027
Amara Raja Divitipalli, Telangana 16 GWh planned NMC and LFP (Gotion licence) Pilot line running; volume line under construction
Reliance New Energy Jamnagar, Gujarat 30 GWh planned LFP and sodium-ion Under construction
Log9 Materials Bengaluru Small scale LTO and LFP Producing for commercial vehicles

Two patterns stand out. First, every large Indian cell project runs on licensed Chinese technology: Exide from Svolt, Amara Raja from Gotion, and Ola’s Bharat Cell drew on process partners before its own development. That is normal, Korea and Japan learned the same way, but it means Chinese export controls on battery technology, tightened in October 2025, sit directly on the critical path. Second, the projects that have delivered are the ones tied to a single captive customer with an urgent product: Ola needed cells for its own scooters, and Tata’s Agratas exists because Tata Motors sells more EVs than anyone else in India. Exide’s Hyundai-Kia line is captive too, which makes its slip more surprising and suggests the problem is on the equipment and process side rather than demand.

What happens next

  • December 2026: HE1i launches on Svolt cells. Watch for whether Hyundai discloses the pack sizes and whether the car qualifies for PLI.
  • FY28: Exide’s Hyundai-Kia line is the earliest realistic date for local cells. Exide has given no new date, so treat anything before mid-2027 as optimistic.
  • Kia: Kia’s version of the same platform, expected in 2027, faces the same cell decision. Kia has not commented.
  • Price: If Hyundai passes on the lower cost of local cells when the switch happens, a mid-life price cut or a bigger pack for the same money would be the visible signal.

Sources & Further Reading

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Hyundai using Svolt cells in its new Indian EV?

Because Exide Energy Solutions’ dedicated Hyundai-Kia LFP cell line in Bengaluru will not be ready in FY27, as Exide disclosed on 3 August 2026. Hyundai chose to launch the HE1i in December 2026 on Svolt LFP cells rather than delay the car, and plans to switch to Exide cells later.

Who is Svolt?

Svolt Energy Technology is a Chinese battery cell maker spun out of Great Wall Motor in 2018. It makes LFP prismatic and cobalt-free NMC cells and is also the technology licensor for Exide’s Bengaluru plant, which is why its cells are the closest match to what Exide will eventually produce.

Does it matter to buyers whether the cells are Svolt or Exide?

Not in practice. The pack, battery management system and warranty are Hyundai’s, and both cells are LFP built to the same specification. The difference is cost and localisation incentives for Hyundai, not durability or range for the owner.

Which companies are actually making EV cells in India today?

Ola Cell Technologies is producing LFP cells in Tamil Nadu, and Log9 makes small volumes in Bengaluru. Exide’s general line is progressing, while Agratas, Amara Raja and Reliance New Energy are still under construction with first volume output targeted for 2027 or later.