Photo: Our Next Energy (via Automotive News)
Our Next Energy plans to spend $1.6 billion on a new battery cell plant in suburban Detroit to produce lithium iron phosphate cells and battery packs, as detailed in a report from Automotive News.
The company, often dubbed “ONE,” signed a lease in Michigan for a 659,589-square-foot building located 25 miles west of downtown Detroit in the Van Buren Township.
Conversion of the building into a battery cell plant is set to begin in January 2023, while production is slated for the back half of 2024. The plant plans to reach full capacity by 2027.
“We think Michigan is well-positioned to be a hub for raw materials supply,” said CEO Mujeeb Ijaz. “Materials are fairly heavy in terms of transportation cost, so anything you can do to get on rail or water is a great way to think about driving costs down. I think the Great Lakes are going to play a part in that.”
The factory is set to be named ONE Circle and feature a yearly production output of around 20-gigawatt hours, which is said to be enough for roughly 200,000 battery packs per year, according to a press release from the company.
The ONE Circle plant will have about 2,100 employees and will support U.S. goals to improve EV battery operations to better compete with China and other countries on which the industry is super reliant.
Honda and LG announced plans to spend $4.4 billion on a battery plant in the U.S., set to begin construction in 2023.
