A123Systems has raised USD69m from GE and other investors to accelerate the expansion of its US lithium ion battery manufacturing and smart grid capabilities.
A123Systems has raised USD69m from GE and other investors to accelerate the expansion of its US lithium ion battery manufacturing and smart grid capabilities.
The capital will help create new jobs by expanding A123’s facilities in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and Novi, Michigan, as well as build planned new factories in Michigan. The funding will also support A123’s efforts to develop applications for the smart grid, such as utility-scale energy storage.
Mark Little, GE’s senior vice president and director GE Global Research, will join A123’s board of directors.
GE Energy Financial Services and GE Capital’s Equity unit provided USD15m of the amount raised by A123 in this financing. This is GE’s seventh investment in A123, making it the company’s largest cash investor and bringing GE’s cumulative investment to USD70m – increasing its ownership stake to more than ten per cent.
In addition to the private capital, A123 is seeking funds under federal and state stimulus and other programmes to ramp up its production capabilities in Michigan. The company’s planned production facilities would be capable of supplying battery systems for five million hybrid electric vehicles or a half-million plug-in electric vehicles per year by 2013.
‘We’ve accelerated our plans to expand our US manufacturing. We do not believe our country can afford to wait to develop advanced batteries,’ says David Vieau, A123Systems’ president and chief executive officer. ‘With this financing, we will begin an expansion that we expect to accelerate upon receipt of government funds. This expansion would create jobs and enable innovation.’
‘A123 has broken through many technical and engineering barriers to advance lithium ion batteries to commercial applications,’ says GE chairman of the board and chief executive Jeff Immelt. ‘As a company also focused on technology innovation, GE is excited to expand our relationship with this close and long-time partner. GE’s capital, resources and technology expertise will help A123 scale up faster and more efficiently.’
A123 was born out of the research labs of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was funded initially with a USD100,000 grant from the US Department of Energy in 2001.
