Venture backed by private fund, public incentives
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Lithium-ion battery maker Ener1’s (HEV.O) EnerDel unit said on Thursday that it would invest $237 million in a new factory to meet expected demand from automotive and smart grid sectors.
The company expects the new facility, near its Indianapolis headquarters, to more than double the unit’s manufacturing capacity. The factory will be backed by private funds and public incentives.
The new plant will give EnerDel the capacity to produce battery packs for about 600,000 hybrid electric vehicles, or 60,000 battery electric cars, the company said.
Lithium-ion batteries have long been used in consumer electronics products like cell phones and laptop computers.
Now, automakers from start-ups like Fisker to industry giants like General Motors Co [GM.UL] and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) are readying electric vehicles powered by packs built up from hundreds of lithium-ion cells.
The race to supply those batteries, which can cost $10,000 or more, promises to create a booming market, one with no dominant and established vendor yet.
Industry estimates project annual sales of up to $25 billion in the next-generation auto batteries by 2015, up from almost none now.
Ener1 recently ended battery supply talks with Fisker, which awarded its contract to rival battery supplier A123 Systems (AONE.O).
Ener1 has partnerships with automakers Volvo (VOLVb.ST) of Sweden, Norway’s Think, and Japan’s Nissan and Mazda (7261.T), and is supplying batteries for a prototype hybrid version of the Humvee being tested by the U.S. Army.
On Thursday, Ener1 also showed off the new Volvo C30 electric vehicle platform, which is powered with its battery packs. (Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
