The Lake Orion, Mich. company designs and makes modular and scalable Li-Ion batteries for mobility, industrial and commercial markets in North America and Europe. The business has more than 300,000 square feet of battery manufacturing, testing and development facilities in Michigan, Ohio and Massachusetts — with more than half of that space in Springboro.
American Battery Solutions, or ABS, in 2019 bought manufacturing and testing assets from Robert Bosch Battery Systems, including the 170,000-squre-foot automotive battery plant at 50 Ovonic Way, a cul-de-sac off North Pioneer Boulevard in Springboro.
At the time of that investment, Bosch had been laying off workers, including 74 workers from the Springboro plant in early 2016. The plant under previous ownership was closed in 2019.
That was the year Subhash Dhar started his company with former auto industry colleagues.
He told a Detroit TV station in late 2021, “I put together a team of about 12 people in a hotel room.”
Dhar told the station his customer base is not the Detroit Big 3 automakers, “because our business model is not to go after passenger cars.”
Instead, Dhar said he sees his customer base in “underserved” markets, such as: “Busses, trucks, delivery vans, industrial vehicles, emerging markets.”
“We are excited to have the highly experienced manufacturing team join our world-class battery professionals and automotive experts together with world-class development and manufacturing facilities,” ABS founder Dhar said of the acquisition of the Springboro plant in 2019. “ABS will focus on the middle of the spectrum of battery systems value chain, concentrating on module production, pack assembly, and customer integration.”
This appears to be a fast-growing market segment. Elsewhere in the Dayton area, Ohio officials are hoping another electric vehicle battery company will create nearly 1,200 new jobs.
SEMCORP Manufacturing USA LLC could create 1,199 full-time positions, generating $73 million in annual payroll if the company establishes a manufacturing presence in the Shelby County community less than an hour north of Dayton, officials from Ohio and the city of Sidney said last week.
Questions about ABS’ plans were sent to the state and the company Sunday.
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