EnerG2 opens new EV battery components plant with support from Recovery Act
15 February 2012
Seattle, Washington-based EnerG2 (earlier post) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of its new manufacturing facility for electric vehicle battery components in Albany, Oregon. Supported in part by $21.3 million in funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this facility will produce nano-engineered carbon materials for batteries and other energy storage devices that can be used in electric drive vehicles.
At full capacity, the EnerG2 plant is expected to be able to produce enough advanced carbon material to support 60,000 electric drive vehicles each year. Previous to the Department of Energy award, the company was using rented equipment and facilities for its production.
EnerG2’s proprietary freeze-drying process to make its specialized carbon material was developed in laboratories at the University of Washington. This particular form of carbon can be used in a variety of energy storage equipment, including ultracapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and advanced lead acid batteries. In addition to the Recovery Act funding, the company has raised more than $17 million in venture capital and received a $1.8 million grant and loan package through the State of Washington’s State Energy Program funding.
EnerG2 is one of 30 advanced battery and electric drive manufacturing facilities supported by the Recovery Act. At full scale, these factories will have the capacity to supply batteries and components to more than 500,000 electric drive vehicles, according to DOE.
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