American Battery Factory’s (ABF) announcement last week to build its first gigafactory in Tucson, Arizona, for the production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells is another significant milestone for Lion Energy in its path to becoming a completely U.S.-based company. ABF will provide Lion Energy with U.S.-made, high-capacity prismatic cells designed for a range of Lion Energy solutions, including portable solar generators along with residential, commercial and utility grid-level, lithium battery-based energy storage systems.
Lion Energy manufactures a wide variety of energy storage solutions, from hand-held portable device charging to portable solar generators and RV batteries. The products are used everywhere: home, commercial, industrial and as utility battery systems.
“Adding a scalable, onshore U.S. supplier for high-quality lithium batteries is the missing link for energy independence as we can’t move to an entirely green energy economy as a country without U.S.-made lithium batteries,” said Jim Ge, chairman and co-founder of Lion Energy. “As one of the fastest-growing pack integrators, Lion Energy is elated to diversify our supply through ABF to address a host of applications that need and require U.S.-made LFP batteries.”
Since its founding, Lion Energy’s goal has been to be 100 percent U.S.-based in its operations, manufacturing and customer service. Currently, all Lion Energy products are designed, engineered, tested and supported from its headquarters in American Fork, Utah, and shipped directly to customers from U.S. warehouses. Customer service is also entirely staffed in the United States with no customer data being sent overseas but instead stored securely in Utah.
The ABF factory will be located on 267 acres in the Aerospace Research Campus located in Pima County and will be their first in a planned series of U.S.-based gigafactories producing safe lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells. The factory is expected to be built within the next 18 to 24 months.
“We are thrilled to have Lion Energy as a founding member and partner with ABF in creating a domestic battery manufacturing ecosystem that is key to making energy independence and renewable energy a reality for the United States,” said Paul Charles, president and CEO at American Battery Factory. “Currently, more than 90% of all LFP battery manufacturing takes place in China. When combined with the recent pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions, the time has come for the United States to develop its own LFP battery supply network to meet federal and state government climate change initiatives and ‘Made-in-USA’ national security requirements.”
Lion Energy’s founders, including CEO Frank Davis, President Tyler Hortin and Chairman of the Board Jim Ge, are catalysts behind the creation of American Battery Factory, having incubated it for 18 months before its official unveiling to the public early this March. With a goal to eliminate the dependency on foreign suppliers for a variety of reasons including national security, quality control, supply chain issues and more, the three decided to onshore the process to the United States. After years of careful research and discussions with industry leaders including current ABF president and CEO Charles, the framework for the company was put in place. Lion Energy’s founders remain actively involved in ABF’s executive board.