American Battery Factory to build first factory in Arizona
After announcing plans to build a network of LFP battery factories in the USA in March, American Battery Factory (ABF) has now decided on the location of the first of these factories.
It will be built with an estimated US$1.2 billion investment in Tucson, Arizona, where ABF will also locate its headquarters and a research and development centre. The headquarters, R&D centre and first factory module are expected to be completed within the next 18 to 24 months.
ABF does not yet give any details on the planned production capacity, but speaks of a “gigafactory” – which indicates a production capacity of one gigawatt-hour or more. Already when ABF announced its plans in March, there were no details on how many and how large cell factories the company wants to build.
About 300 jobs are to be created in the first phase of opening the factory, with 1,000 jobs planned later. Celgard will reportedly supply the separators for ABF’s LFP battery cells.
“With this first factory, we will secure a strategically positioned company headquarters while taking the critical first steps in making it possible to one day move the country and the entire world to 100% renewable power,” says Paul Charles, president and CEO of American Battery Factory.
ABF was founded by Lion Energy, a supplier of batteries and solar products. The plan is for ABF to produce lithium iron phosphate battery cells for stationary applications as well as for electric vehicles such as trucks, buses, trams, farm vehicles, e-bikes, scooters, forklifts and heavy construction equipment, according to the release.
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