Atlis to set up pilot battery production in Arizona
Atlis Motor Vehicles, the US startup currently known for working on an electric pick-up truck, has announced plans to develop a battery cell production line and a battery pack production line at its headquarters, in Mesa, Arizona.
The company signed two MoU to this effect with South Korea-based Media Tech, their machinery supplier to create a pilot production line. Malaysia-based Greatech will serve as Atlis partner for battery pack production, basically to set up an assembly line, also as a pilot.
Atlis consider Media Tech and Greatech to have the capacity and experience needed to design, develop, manufacture, install, and calibrate the necessary equipment for battery cell and pack production.
In the bigger picture, this will serve the startup in their electric vehicle platform for heavy and light-duty trucks. This latest news sees them adding proprietary battery cells and packs. They also mention charging infrastructure to recharge a 500-mile range battery in less than 15 minutes.
So far we know of only one vehicle by Atlis. The battery-electric pickup truck XT which they had unveiled in 2019. Reservations opened a year later with Altis announcing production to start in 2021. The company had also begun offering their platform to third-parties last December through their website.
The Atlis XT aims to score with a high towing capacity under 16 tons and a payload of just under 2.3 tons. Compared with the Rivian R1T electric pickup, the Atlis XT is to be longer and feature a load floor up to 2.4 meters long. The company has also announced several variants, i.e. with a shorter cargo area, off-road qualities, or double rear wheels.
In the original announcement, Atlis also specified various battery packs ranging from a 125 kWh battery over larger power packs for ranges of 480 km, 640 km and up to 800 km depending on the model. The company did not disclose further technical details at the time and did not do so now.
“We have successfully designed, developed, and tested prototype battery cells and packs that meet all necessary specifications,” is all we heard from CEO Mark Hanchett. “This next step is to move to small-scale production at our Arizona facilities, he added, with said partners.
Neither Media Tech nor Greatech appears to supply cells but specialise in manufacturing and design equipment and machinery. They will help Atlis set up said pilot lines for battery production and assembly. If both prototype lines meet the company’s performance and quality expectations, Atlis said they would explore the development of high-volume lines designed to produce millions of cells and hundreds of packs per month.
Online, the company continues to look for investors but claims to have raised two billion dollars through reservations of their pick-up truck. They have yet to deliver. Plus, this seems to be a rather theoretical number as reservations are free and because Atlis is looking to raise another 25 million dollars at the moment to begin building. We’ll stay tuned.
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