Martinrea Worldwide Inc. says it can make an funding determination this summer time on what could possibly be Canada’s first main battery plant, because it begins proving out its battery know-how and manufacturing course of at a brand new demonstration-scale facility in Montreal.
The auto elements provider and its three way partnership companion NanoXplore Inc. are set to formally open the Montreal battery lab in April, although CEO Pat D’Eramo mentioned many of the items are already in place.
“Gear got here in within the fall, it’s in place, and now we will produce,” D’Eramo informed Automotive Information Canada. “Based mostly on its success, we might construct the primary part of a bigger plant.”
That bigger plant would have capability to supply 10 gigawatt-hours (gWh) of battery cells yearly.
The Toronto-based elements provider teamed up with Montreal graphene producer and know-how agency NanoXplore to type the VoltaXplore battery three way partnership in April 2021. Along with planning the primary lithium-ion battery plant of its measurement in Canada, the JV crew will inject its personal technological spin, utilizing graphene to boost the batteries.
Sturdy, ultra-thin and extremely conductive, graphene is one thing of a “magic materials,” D’Eramo mentioned. In VoltaXplore’s batteries, he added, testing has proven it helps enhance battery life and charging velocity whereas bettering security by permitting the batteries to function at decrease temperatures.
Martinrea, which additionally holds an roughly 22 per cent stake in NanoXplore, is already utilizing the comparatively new nanomaterial to cut back weight and strengthen a number of the brake strains it manufactures for passenger autos.
Govt Chairman Rob Wildeboer mentioned the following step for the graphene-enhanced batteries is to place the automated manufacturing line by way of its paces to scrutinize how the method scales.
“We expect it’s a winner, but it surely’s one factor to do it in a lab and present it in exams and one other to mainly say, ‘Okay, I’m going to supply a bunch of batteries and stick it in a automobile, and we’ll drive it round.’”
To this point, Martinrea and NanoXplore have every invested $5 million within the Montreal demonstration facility, D’Eramo mentioned on a March 4 convention name with analysts.
Martinrea has already dedicated to 1 automobile venture for the batteries, having signed on to offer design help for the batteries within the Automotive Components Producers’ Affiliation’s Challenge Arrow. Apart from that particular venture, Wildeboer mentioned it stays on the proof-of-concept stage, although the corporate does have a number of clients in thoughts.
The elements provider expects its batteries to search out clients past automotive as nicely. D’Eramo pointed to vitality storage as one outstanding instance.
Hinging on the scale-up course of on the 1 megawatt-hour Montreal lab, Martinrea would construct the commercial-scale plant in two phases. Step one can be building of a 2 gWh plant to open in 2024, and the second stage, an growth of the location to 10 gWh by 2026. It has not shared any particulars on deliberate location, other than the venture being in Canada.
Concentrating on mid-2022 for its go or no-go determination on the full-scale battery plant retains VoltaXplore consistent with its authentic timeline for the venture. Martinrea mentioned final 12 months the plant might cowl a million sq. toes (90,000 sq. metres) and make use of greater than 2,000 Canadians.