Germany / USA – Developer and manufacturer of high-performance lithium-ion battery systems, AKASOL AG of Darmstadt, Germany, has engaged the services of Manz AG of Reutlingen, Germany (a global high-tech production equipment manufacturing company) to supply fully automated production lines for producing high-energy battery modules for commercial vehicles at its Gigafactory 1 facility in Darmstadt (Darmstadt Headquarter Campus). The automated production equipment is scheduled to be delivered before the end of 2020 with serial production expected mid-2021.

This investment in automated production follows on from a major order in mid-2019, when AKASOL announced it had won an order to supply ultra-high-energy AKASystem AKM CYC battery systems from an un-named international commercial vehicle manufacturer; a contract, which it said was worth in the high three-digit million euro range. Akasol said new production capacities were now being built up as planned, enabling serial production of the ultra-high-energy battery modules to start in the new Gigafactory 1 south of Darmstadt by the middle of 2021. AKASOL added these battery systems would achieve a further improved energy density compared with current systems and enable the longest of ranges on a single charge of between 600 and 800 kilometres under real demanding conditions in fully electric buses and commercial vehicles, depending, of course on the vehicle type and driving profile.