Microvast to build plant and work with Oshkosh

Battery manufacturer Microvast has taken over an existing plant from Akebono and Bosch in Clarksville in the US state of Tennessee and is converting it to produce battery cells, modules and packs for EVs. Microvast has also announced a collaboration with Oshkosh Corporation.

Production is scheduled to start at the new Microvast site in Clarksville in the summer of 2022 following the conversion of the plant. The company, which was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Houston in the US state of Texas, is investing 220 million US dollars in the project and has announced its intention to create 287 jobs on site. It also plans to set up a research and development department at the site. So far, nothing has been revealed about the plants about the planned production capacity.

Independently of its plans for Clarksville, Microvast has also announced a cooperation with Oshkosh Corporation to work together on the development and integration of next-generation battery technologies. Oshkosh is a commercial vehicle manufacturer that produces trucks and military vehicles. The goal is to “design customised battery solutions for Oshkosh’s future electrification projects,” Microvast says. Oshkosh is also investing US$25 million in the battery maker as part of Microvast’s announced IPO.

Just a few days ago, the Texan company revealed it is aiming to go public on the US stock exchange via a merger with Tuscan Holdings Corp. The IPO is expected to raise $540 million (just under 450 million euros) for the merged company. Tuscan is already traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol THCB, the merged company is to be listed as MVST.

Meanwhile, the German subsidiary Microvast GmbH opened its new European headquarters in Ludwigsfelde near Berlin on 1 February. Production is also located at the site. Assembly of battery modules is scheduled to begin as planned at the end of the first quarter in March. The module production line was supplied by Thyssenkrupp and is about 100 metres long. The cells for it come from the Chinese sister company Microvast Power Systems Co. Ltd. in China.

The production capacity is initially to be 1.5 GWh per year, later Ludwigsfelde is to be expanded to up to 6 GWh. Then up to 250 jobs are to be created. According to the company, it has invested around 50 million euros in the first stage of expansion.

clarksvillenow.com, tn.gov, businesswire.com (cooperation with Oshkosh)