Magnis Energy begins production at US battery ‘gigafactory’

The ASX-listed Magnis Energy Technologies has begun production at its massive 22,000 square metre Imperium3 (iM3NY) lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in New York, with the company targeting annual production of 1 GWh of battery cell capacity by the end of 2023.

Magnis, which along with technology partner Charge CCCV LLC (C4V) are the major shareholders in the iM3NY facility, said the New York plant is working at an initial production rate of several thousand cells in the first month during the quality assurance phase.

Output will then be scaled up to 1 GWh per annum by 2023 before being ramped up to 1.8 GWh, which is the equivalent to about 15,000 battery cells per day. The company is aiming to increase annual production to 38 GWh of battery cell capacity by the end of 2030 to satisfy some of the demand for lithium-ion batteries.

“Despite a challenging global environment and supply chain issues, we have successfully started production close to schedule which is a major achievement,” iM3NY chief executive officer Chaitanya Sharma said.

“We now look forward to increasing production rates toward and over the gigawatt hour mark.”

The plant will manufacture cells featuring C4V’s patented Charge CCCV technology which relies on bio-mineralised lithium manganese phosphate (BMLMP) cathode technology. The chemistry, which is free of nickel and cobalt, incorporates traditional electrolyte along with a patented mixed metal phosphate composition in the cathode which the company said enables 3.9 volts of charge, one of the highest voltages of any lithium-ion cells in the marketplace.

Magnis, one of the companies behind plans to develop an 18 GWh lithium-ion battery factory in northern Queensland, said the voltage is 20% higher than lithium-ion phosphate cells and up to 8% higher than nickel cobalt aluminium and nickel manganese cobalt cells.

“All aspects of the cell have been considered and engineered to ensure maximum performance, safety and the ability to manufacture high volumes,” the company said.

Magnis chairman Frank Poullas said the first revenue is expected late next month.

“With previously announced binding sales agreements, I look forward to updating the market as we move towards generating revenues and increasing the capacity of the plant to meet some of the huge demand currently experienced for lithium-ion batteries especially in the United States,” he said.