VAN BUREN TWP. (WWJ) – Production has begun at a new electric vehicle battery plant in Van Buren Township that is expected to help bring the life of EV batteries to the next level.
Around 70 employees at Our Next Energy’s ONE Circle plant on Ecorse Road near Haggerty have begun work on pilot cells that will be sent to customers for testing.
CEO Mujeeb Ijaz says the slow ramp up with this “mini production scale line” will help the company get to about 300 employees next year. ONE plans to have about 2,100 employees by 2027.
The first stages of production “gives us the ability to validate the product, the supply chain of all the raw materials, but very importantly to train our workforce,” Ijaz told WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert.
The $1.3 billion plant will be one of the few in the U.S. manufacturing LFP and anode-free cells.
The state of Michigan pitched in $215 million in incentives to help the plant become reality. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said last year at the time the plant was announced it will help the state as it tries to position itself at the forefront of the EV revolution.
“This innovative, Michigan-made company is on the cutting-edge of battery technology, and the work they’re doing will increase the range of electric vehicles to over 600 miles on a single charge,” Whitmer said.
Ijaz says the start of production is evidence that they’re on track to accomplish that.
“In that we were able to do that, that’s confirmation that we have the right team, the right suppliers and the right partnership with the state of Michigan in being able to accomplish that,” he said.