It is rapidly emerging as one of the frontrunners in advanced battery production and now A123Systems has raised a further $69million from GE and other investors to accelerate the expansion of its lithium-ion manufacturing and smart grid capabilities.
GE has poured $15million into the company making it the largest cash investor and bringing its cumulative investment to a whopping $70million. The money will help support the expansion of A123System’s facilities based in Hopkinton, MA and Novi, MI. There are also plans to build another factory in Michigan. Funding will also go towards A123′s efforts to develop applications such as a utility-scale energy storage, for the smart grid.
The search for funding does not end there, however. The company is looking for additional capital from federal and state stimulus and other programmes in a bid to increase its production capabilities.
It is hoped that the company will be capable of supplying battery systems for five million hybrid electric vehicles or a half a million plug-in electric vehicles per year by 2013. The firm has already been awarded development and supply contracts for Chrysler’s first generation electric vehicle fleet and Chinese automaker SAIC Corp’s new hybrid models.
