ISELIN, N.J. – BASF this week celebrated the grand opening of its new cathode materials production plant in Elyria, Ohio. The materials manufactured at the Elyria plant will be used by BASF’s customers to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries for the current and next-generation hybrid and full electric vehicles. According to BASF, this will help drive the future of electromobility in North America and around the globe.
The grand opening event was attended by a number of federal, state and local officials, as well as representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), its affiliated Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and numerous BASF employees from Ohio and other parts of the company’s global manufacturing and research and development operations.
Construction of the new cathode materials plant required an investment of more than $50 million, which was supported by a $24.6 million grant from the U.S DOE. In addition, BASF was selected as one of only two licensed suppliers of ANL-patented Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese (NCM) cathode materials, which employ a unique combination of lithium and manganese-rich mixed metal oxides. The materials being produced in Elyria leverage this advanced NCM chemistry, which is particularly well-suited to the production of lithium-ion batteries for automotive and other high-end applications.
The new four-story, 70,000-square-foot cathode materials plant in Elyria leverages state-of-the-art production technologies, and is expected to create approximately 25 new jobs in Elyria. The operation in Elyria is supported by BASF battery materials research laboratories in nearby Beachwood, Ohio, and at the company’s headquarters site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
For more information, go to www.catalysts.basf.com.
