Detroit to get a $1.6 billion electric vehicle battery factory

The electric vehicle battery maker Our Next Energy (ONE) has selected Van Buren Township—a Detroit suburb—for a $1.6 billion factory. ONE’s flagship automotive battery stacks two different chemistries: anode-free cells, which incorporate lithium metal, for large capacity and lithium iron phosphate cells for a rapid charge-discharge cycle. The firm says a sedan running on its battery has a range of 600 miles (965 km) or more per charge. ONE has raised about $90 million since summer 2021; participating investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures and BMW. The State of Michigan is providing a $215 million grant to the project, which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says will create 2,112 jobs with an average salary of over $67,000. In a press release, ONE emphasized the plant’s sustainable design. Plans include powering it with at least 50% renewable energy and sourcing raw materials from a “well-known North American battery recycler” that ONE did not name. The firm expects to be producing enough batteries for 200,000 electric vehicles per year by 2027.