After unveiling its new high- and low-voltage modular lithium-ion battery systems earlier this year, Lithos Energy Inc. now has a place to produce them. The company recently announced it had officially opened the doors to its new manufacturing and pilot line facility in Hayward, CA. The 65,000-ft² (6040-m²) facility in California’s Silicon Valley will feature enhanced pack assembly automation and will manufacture, at scale, its lithium-ion battery pack systems.

“A new client can reach mass production with Lithos, in many cases, in as soon as eight months,” said James Meredith, President of Lithos. “Our Hayward facility will immediately allow us to meet the development needs for clients around the globe, while simultaneously creating the blueprint for future facilities with significant capacity.”

“Our new location immediately provides increased capacity coupled with the highest standard of manufacturing quality that Lithos is known for,” added Chris Gross, Vice President of Operations at Lithos. “Furthermore, this site allows for advanced manufacturing and efficient R&D as well as proximity to leading talent recruitment in the heart of Silicon Valley.”

Co-founded in 2015 by Tesla and MIT alum Meredith, Lithos Energy says that by offering in-house prototyping and production it can rapidly innovate and ensure that each production product meets the specifications required for the application. Lithos says its new facility will produce its battery systems for a variety of industries including those for electric vehicles, transportation, and especially off-highway segments like marine, agriculture, construction, and mining.

Lithos Energy’s profile was raised in January when Caterpillar announced an investment in the company to further the machine maker’s battery pack development and manufacturing.

“Cat equipment—regardless of its power source—is designed to operate in the most demanding conditions,” said Joe Creed, Group President of Caterpillar’s Energy & Transportation Segment. “Lithos’ experience manufacturing battery packs for similarly demanding environments will be an asset as we continue our electrified product development.”

Caterpillar says it is committed to supporting customers in the energy transition with lower-carbon advanced power technologies for its hybrid- and full-electric machines and power generation products. The company displayed four electric construction machine prototypes, including battery prototypes, at Bauma 2022 in Munich, Germany, and a year ago demonstrated its first battery-electric 793 large mining truck at its Tucson Proving Ground in Arizona.

Lithos has two 2170 cylindrical-based battery pack systems with integrated BMS, CAN 2.0B communications, and IP67 ingress protection.

Its latest-generation high-voltage system offers performance and safety in a compact lightweight design, in standard modules enabling rapid deployment and customization for a range of applications that demand high energy and power.

Using a similar compact design, the low-voltage system offers passive propagation resistance. It is drop-rated to 1 m, with high shock and vibration resistance. The low-voltage system is suited for specialty on- and off-road e-mobility, marine, industrial robots, telecom, and reserve power.

Lithos’ new battery systems are available now for client evaluation and application-specific customization toward at-scale manufacturing in 2024.

 

Kevin Jost contributed to this article.