Enevate and JR ES Announce Joint Plan to Build a Battery Electrode Manufacturing Facility in the US

Enevate, a U.S.-based, pioneering battery innovation company featuring extreme fast charge and high energy density battery technologies for electric vehicles (EVs) and other markets, and Korea’s JR Energy Solution (JR ES), a leader in the design of high-performance lithium-ion battery electrodes and cells, announced a joint plan to build a battery cell electrode manufacturing facility in the United States.

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“It will allow customers to get access to Enevate’s industry-leading silicon-dominant battery technology and to tap into JR ES’s knowledge and expertise in electrode and battery cell manufacturing. ”

JR ES is a leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance lithium-ion battery electrodes with a unique electrode and battery cell foundry model, enabling lithium-ion cell manufacturers and other partners to produce tailor-made electrodes and cell solutions. JR ES has announced the initial groundbreaking for its first production facility in South Korea, which is planned to start initial production from Q4 of 2023.

Last month, Enevate announced that it had licensed its industry leading silicon-dominant XFC-Energy^® battery technology to JR ES for future products and applications. This collaboration will now be expanded to include the joint construction of a battery cell electrode manufacturing facility in the U.S. Enevate and JR ES have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to work together on establishing a US manufacturing facility and have begun the process of identifying potential locations.

The facility will produce tailor-made lithium-ion battery cell electrodes, including anodes and cathodes, which will accelerate the market penetration of Enevate’s revolutionary battery fast charge technology for existing and new Enevate customers. The facility will also provide various electrode solutions for other customers including, but not limited to, graphite, silicon, LFP, NMC, NCMA and NCA, for different battery cell form factors such as pouch or cylindrical cells.

Customers will have the opportunity to develop electrodes and battery cells utilizing Enevate’s unique silicon-dominant XFC-Energy^® anode battery technology, which delivers up to 10 times faster charging than conventional lithium-ion batteries with high energy densities and significantly improved cold-temperature performance for future applications such as electric two/three-wheelers or electric vehicles.

Moreover, the battery cell electrode foundry facility will enable customers to outsource parts of their production; speed up their development process; or order tailor-made electrodes to qualify their materials or production equipment, while having the benefit of receiving ultra-high-quality electrodes produced on state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment at mass production speed.

Enevate and JR ES are committed to providing commercial-scale domestic manufacturing capabilities to enable faster adoption of Enevate’s technology as well as to support sustainability, resilience, and equity in the U.S. Both companies are strongly focused on eliminating supply chain constraints to support the global energy industry and specially to assist the world in meeting its future climate goals.

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“This collaboration with JR Energy Solution is great news for the whole battery industry in the U.S.,” said Enevate CEO Bob Kruse. “It will allow customers to get access to Enevate’s industry-leading silicon-dominant battery technology and to tap into JR ES’s knowledge and expertise in electrode and battery cell manufacturing.

“Moreover, it will enable customers to accelerate their development process or to outsource parts of their production capacity. I am convinced that this facility will play a key role in helping the U.S. battery industry to get even more competitive,” Kruse said.

The two companies said they are currently in the evaluation process for different potential locations for their joint production facility. The facility is currently planned to reach up to 6 GWh of annual paired electrode capacity (6 GWh anode + 6 GWh cathode) in different building stages.

“This is a huge milestone for JR ES to bring our unique expertise in electrode development and manufacturing to the U.S.,” said JR Energy Solution CEO Duke Oh. “It will also allow us to expand our electrode foundry model to the U.S. and to serve U.S.- based customers even better. We are thrilled to work together with Enevate as our partner and to have access to its revolutionary battery technology, which will be a key value proposition for many customers going forward.”

The ever-increasing demand for battery cell electrode production coupled with the need for high-speed innovation and development will make this joint manufacturing facility a very attractive solution for many battery manufacturers, OEMs, startups or material and equipment suppliers with a constant need for high quality battery cell electrodes. In addition, having access to the scaled-up production of Enevate’s fast charge technology will allow many customers to improve their products and applications going forward and to advance the U.S. battery industry even further.

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