Microvast electric vehicle battery manufacturer to carry the 287-job plant to Clarksville

The first American facility in Clarksville will be set up by an electric vehicle battery producer, adding nearly 300 jobs to a rising technology market. Microvast, which is a global corporation owned by the United States, specializes in the production of fast-charging lithium-ion batteries for the commercial electric vehicles. “This is massive,” Frank Tate, the Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Board’s executive director, informed Clarksville Now. “It’s the first American-owned Electric Vehicle battery in the United States- that’s fairly massive for us.”

In summer 2022, Microvast aims to commence production here, shifting into the previous Akebono/Bosch facility on the International Boulevard. Research, as well as the development department and production facility to construct the Electric Vehicle battery cell, module as well as the pack, will be included in the $220 million Clarksville factory. In a conversation with the Clarksville Now, Shane Smith, who serves as the president of the Microvast United States, stated, “We move from the raw resources all the way to the final products, the pack, and we have been doing that in the last 14 years.” “What Microvast keeps improving is that it is very good at the cycle life-the number of charges as well as discharges one can do in a day or even period of time as well as then we have great fast charging capabilities, so that in 10 to about 30 minutes we can completely charge the battery. And that’s what we balance with protection.”

For commercial as well as specialty automobiles, such as small, medium as well as heavy-duty trucks, trains, buses, and specialty vehicles, this profile works incredibly well. In areas where you may not want the internal combustion engine, like mining or even for scissor lifts or the forklifts in a factory, electric vehicles are beneficial. Smith stated, “The United States is just starting with the electrification of the commercial vehicles.” “In the United States, there is only about 1 percent that is electrified.” But that demand is increasing rapidly.

Microvast currently operates almost 30,000 buses worldwide, and perhaps its most noticeable customer is the double-decker bus in the London City. In London, there are more than 1,000 double-decker buses; all are electric as well as powered by batteries from Microvast, Smith stated. Microvast also develops and installs energy storage batteries, such as those for power grids in the electricity grids. “It would operate in an electric car, but it would also operate for energy storage, the brand portfolio we produce here. A battery just doesn’t realize if it’s in a vehicle at the end of each day, or if it’s on standby or being utilized constantly to control a grid.”