John Deere to build US factory for Kreisel Electric

According to a US state announcement by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, John Deere Electric Powertrain will invest $69.6 million to build its North American headquarters and a new battery and charger plant in the town of Kernersville. John Deere then plans to produce battery packs and Chimero charging technology from Kreisel Electric in a 115,000 square foot (10,684 square metre) space at the plant.

The factory construction will be supported by a $100,000 performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund, which “provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and create jobs.” The criteria of the grant specify that no money will be transferred upfront and that the receiving company must “job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment”.

Chimero is the name of the fast-charging solution with integrated battery from Austrian company Kreisel Electric, in which John Deere had acquired a majority stake at the end of 2021. In September 2022, Kreisel Electric had announced that it would expand its battery production capacities in two European locations by more than 2 GWh. At the time, another planned investment in the USA was mentioned, which has likely now been revealed.