A123 Systems has opened the largest lithium-ion automotive battery manufacturing plant in North America.
The new facility in Livonia, Michigan, is a welcome boost for employment in the beleaguered state and will expand A123’s production capacity up to 600MW hours per year when fully operational, contributing to the company's plan to expand global final cell assembly capacity to more than 760MW hours annually by the end of 2011.
The opening of the Livonia factory comes just over a year after A123 was awarded a $249 million grant from the US Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The company also received $125 million in state incentives from the 21st Century Job Fund.
"The opening of our Livonia facility is a significant milestone and confirms that we are accomplishing our stated objectives that accompanied the DOE grant,” said David Vieau, president and CEO of A123 Systems.
“Bringing this factory on line in just over a year is a testament to our technology innovation and strategic plan to ramp up manufacturing, but it also speaks to the maturity of the market—without significant customer demand for our products today, a capacity expansion of this magnitude would not be possible.
"We are grateful to the DOE, the state of Michigan and everyone else who helped make this vision a reality,” he continued. “Over the next several years, we expect to create thousands of jobs in greater Detroit and plan to continue our expansion in the area as we do our part in helping the US emerge as a global leader in the production of advanced lithium ion batteries."
A123 will focus on manufacturing prismatic cells and systems at the new 291,000-square-foot Livonia facility. The factory is designed to enable the complete production process, including research and development, manufacturing of high-value components, cell fabrication, module fabrication and the final assembly of complete battery packs ready for vehicle integration.
As part of its continuing US manufacturing ramp up, A123 also plans to open a coating plant in Romulus, Michigan, expected to come on line during the first half of 2011.
