Daimler plans to invest around €100 million ($125 million) to expand production capacity for lithium-ion batteries at its Deutsche ACCUmotive subsidiary. A new building is under construction in Kamenz, Germany, and when it is completed in mid-2015, Deutsche ACCUmotive will have nearly 20,000 square meters of production and logistics space.

“Deutsche ACCUmotive will be producing the lithium-ion batteries for the upcoming electric versions of the smart fortwo and forfour from 2016 as well as for future hybrid models of Mercedes-Benz,” said Frank Blome, Managing Director of Deutsche ACCUmotive. “The development and production of our lithium-ion batteries is competitive in every respect. We are in the black.”

Assembly of cooling hoses on battery modules

The Daimler subsidiary has delivered more than 50,000 lithium-ion batteries to date, and sees additional growth opportunities in the stationary storage field. “We have already concluded the first customer contracts. With our systems we can make an important contribution to the energy turnaround,” said Blome.

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“The production of battery systems by Deutsche ACCUmotive GmbH in Kamenz will contribute significantly to the growing expertise of the auto state Saxony in the area of electromobility and battery technology,” said Stanislaw Tillich, Prime Minister of the German state of Saxony. “The expansion of the company shows that Saxony has much to offer as an innovation location, with excellent research close to industry at the technical universities, colleges and research facilities as well as very well educated specialist manpower.”

Source: Daimler via Green Car Congress