AKASOL has adopted Tesla’s nomenclature, and christened its new battery plant in Darmstadt, Germany “Gigafactory 1.” The German battery maker has commissioned Manz to supply fully automated production lines for high-energy battery modules at the new plant and the company’s US site in Hazel Park, Michigan. The total order volume for production equipment could reach 20 million euros.

AKASOL is building the new production capacity following a large order from a commercial vehicle manufacturer, and hopes to start serial production at the new Gigafactory 1 by mid-2021. AKASOL says the new AKASystem AKM CYC battery systems it will manufacture at this location achieve a higher energy density than current systems, enabling commercial EV ranges of 600-800 km.

“With a total capacity of up to 5 GWh in the new Gigafactory 1 in Darmstadt, AKASOL is well-positioned to deliver the quantities agreed with our serial customer in the coming years,” said Sven Schulz, CEO of AKASOL. “In addition, the Gigafactory 1 will be an important basis for the further expansion of our production capacities in North America, where we will install Gigafactory 2 with almost identical production equipment from the beginning of 2022.”

AKASOL also plans to build a new headquarters, including a state-of-the-art test and validation center, on a 20,000 square meter site next to Gigafactory 1.

“By the end of this year, we will be investing around 60 million euros in the infrastructure of our new corporate headquarters and Gigafactory 1 in Darmstadt,” said Carsten Bovenschen, CFO of AKASOL.

Source: AKASOL