JUST IN: Business announces $55.2M Kettering jobs plan for EV batteries

Li Industries did not specify a location to be repurposed. One vacant site is a 128-acre property at the corner of Forrer Boulevard and Woodman Drive, a facility Tenneco vacated in late 2023.

Dean Miller, executive with for Industrial Commercial Properties, which owns the land, declined to comment on the issue Monday morning.

“With any tenant discussion you really can’t comment on it until it gets down the road a little bit,” Miller said.

ICP earlier this year said it was making a multimillion-dollar investment in the site to update it for future use.

Messages left with the city of Kettering were not immediately returned.

“This project will utilize LII’s innovative technology to produce low-cost, sustainable LFP CAM to supply the domestic (lithium-ion battery) manufacturing industry for electric vehicle and battery energy stationary storage applications,” Li Industries said.

LFP CAM refers to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), a type of battery chemistry for electric vehicles, and Cathode Active Materials (CAM), which are high-purity chemicals associated with the process.

“The facility aims to deliver 5 GWh of domestic LFP CAM manufacturing capacity to support (lithium-ion battery) manufacturing and bolster supply chain circularity,” it added.

Li is a company focused on developing next-generation lithium-ion battery recycling technologies, according to its website. It has two North Carolina locations and one in Virginia, its website states.

General Motors is supporting Li Industries to develop technology to enable the direct recycling process, and LII will work with other partners to build and operate the facility, the company announced.

The facility will increase America’s competitiveness in lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling and manufacturing, and localize the battery supply chain, the company said.

Li’s announcement comes after the Department of Energy announced over $3 billion in investments for 25 selected projects across 14 states to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials nationwide.