Daimler Trucks, Accelera by Cummins, and truck maker PACCAR broke ground on a huge battery cell factory for electric trucks in Mississippi.
July 2, 2024, update: The joint venture is called Amplify Cell Technologies, and it’s building a 2 million-square-foot, energy-efficient factory on a 500-acre site to produce lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cells. It will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 21 gigawatt hours (GWh), and Amplify plans to begin battery cell production in 2027.
Mississippi’s Republican governor, Tate Reeves, celebrated the factory’s groundbreaking, catalyzed by and will benefit from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Reeves said:
This project is the largest payroll commitment in state history, and it will bring an incredible 2,000 new jobs to this community. This fantastic investment from these industry leaders will help to further charge Mississippi’s electric economy.
January 18, 2024: The factory will be in Marshall County, Mississippi, southeast of Memphis. The joint venture’s factory will localize battery cell production for commercial electric trucks. It’s expected to create more than 2,000 US manufacturing jobs.
The joint venture between Accelera by Cummins, Daimler Truck, and PACCAR – which manufactures light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF nameplates – was announced in September 2023.
The total investment is expected to be in the range of $2-3 billion for the factory.
Daimler asserts that the LFP battery cells they produce will offer lower cost, longer life, and enhanced safety without the need for nickel and cobalt.
Each company will own 30% of the joint venture. China-based EVE Energy, which manufactures LFP battery cells for EVs, will be the technology partner in the joint venture, with 10% ownership. It will bring its battery cell design and “manufacturing know-how” to the table.
The companies say the joint venture enables them to create the scale needed for cost-effective EV batteries, “ultimately creating value for commercial vehicle customers in North America.”
“Localized battery cell production is an important component of delivering our customers – the fleets that keep America and the world moving – cost-effective options for decarbonizing their operations,” said John O’Leary, president and CEO of Daimler Truck North America.
Top comment by Mckillio
Love to see it but it does make me wonder how easily these plants can switch to a different battery type, given how quickly battery tech is advancing.
Read more: Uber Freight and Greenlane team up to electrify America’s trucking routes
Photo: Daimler Truck North America
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