EV Battery Company to Build $200M Arizona Plant

This project joins a handful of similar initiatives in the state.

Rendering, aerial view of EVelution Energy’s Yuma County, Ariz., plant. Image courtesy of EVelution

Electric vehicle battery company EVelution Energy is developing a cobalt sulfate production facility in Yuma County, Ariz.

Construction is set to begin in 2024, with the project expected online in 2026. The plant, which is expected to create approximately 300 construction jobs and 60 full-time jobs, will be located between the towns of Tacna and Dateland, in an Opportunity Zone.

The company is investing $200 million in the facility, which is expected to produce approximately 33,000 metric tons of EV-grade cobalt sulfate annually, or enough to support U.S. production of roughly 470,000 electric vehicles per year. The solar-powered plant will be carbon neutral, providing all its own power and supplying renewable electricity to the surrounding agricultural community, according to a statement from EVelution.

Earlier this month, the Yuma County Board of Supervisors greenlit the plan. Governor Katie Hobbs and U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly praised the opening of the facility in prepared remarks.

Arizona has become a hub for the EV industry in recent years, with companies including LG Energy Solution, KORE Power and Ecobat constructing battery-producing plants. Ecobat’s lithium ion plant will be located in Casa Grande, Ariz., while KORE Power’s 2 million-square-foot, $1.25 billion facility is rising in Buckeye, Ariz. The $5.5 billion LG facilities in Queen Creek, Ariz., are set to break ground later this year.

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