The noted lithium-ion battery manufacturer A123 Systems will be opening a new battery manufacturing plant in the city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, as part of its plans to expand its operations in Europe, according to recent reports.
The new lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility is being developed owing to the expectation of a continuing surge in demand in the European market for low-voltage automotive products (a focus of the company’s).
The manufacturing facility is intended to complement A123 Systems’ technical facility in the German city of Stuttgart, as well as work in cooperation with its manufacturing facilities in Changzhou, China; Hangzhou, China; and in Michigan, in the US.
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This European location will establish regional assembly of A123’s advanced 12V Lithium-ion starter battery and next-generation 48V battery and cost effectively support the growing market demand. The system assembly capacity in phase one of the factory will exceed 600,000 units per year and the company expects to reach this level of production in the next few years based on business it has already been awarded.
With the assistance of CzechInvest, A123 will open the manufacturing plant in Ostrava and expects to begin production in the second half of 2016. The Ostrava facility will be located in an industrial park operated by CT Park, with adequate opportunity for expansion as the business continues to develop.
The CEO of A123 Systems, Jason Forcier, commented: “Our new business wins in the micro-hybrid market have validated A123’s strategy and given us an opportunity to expand our global manufacturing footprint. Our recently announced technology advancements related to high power chemistries have resulted in over $1 billion in new low voltage business awards globally in the last 15 months.”
That’s great news! A123 is alive again. I thought they were goners.
When it comes to EV, they are still goners. They now make gas car batteries. I think Fisker and 2014 SparkEV were only cars to use A123. I fear what will happen when those batteries die; no replacement due to different Chemistry.