KORE Power, the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho-based battery cell manufacturer that's moving forward on a manufacturing facility called KOREPlex in Buckeye, acquired a 4.22% stake in a Valley company that it recently struck a partnership with.
KORE Power and Gilbert-based ZEVx, formerly known as Zero Electric Vehicles, first entered into a battery development agreement last September. The partnership brings the companies together to design and manufacture vehicle electrification solutions, specifically in thermal management, safety and pack configurability — three areas that present significant challenges in battery development.
How much KORE paid for its ownership stake in ZEVx wasn't disclosed.
“KORE Power produces the battery cells that provide the backbone of electrification, and ZEVx is accelerating vehicle electrification with products that allow for rapid, affordable conversion of fleet vehicles,” said Lindsay Gorrill, CEO and co-founder of KORE Power in a statement. “Our joint product development and investment will help ZEVx realize the promise of these innovations at a time when moving to electric vehicles makes so much sense economically and environmentally.”
Electric vehicle startup ZEVx was founded in 2020. It grew its Valley footprint by expanding into a 103,000-square-foot facility in Gilbert — the site of its new headquarters. In addition to 300 jobs at the site, the facility houses the company's production of EV conversion kits for light and medium-duty fleet vehicles that currently run on gasoline. The company also plans to build an electric vehicle chassis and fully electric car of its own in the future.
"We’re proud to be two American companies putting American IP to work here in Arizona to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy independence, and eliminate barriers to EV adoption,” said Carolyn Maury, ZEVx CEO, in a statement. “With KORE Power officially on our team, we can accelerate the deployment of our products to deliver these benefits to our customers."
Maury could not be reached for further comment on Thursday.
Earlier this month, KORE revealed renderings for its planned KOREPlex plant in Buckeye. The company recently announced plans to double the size of its lithium-ion battery facility, which will now total 2 million square feet and cost $1.25 billion to build as opposed to 1 million square feet and nearly $1 billion.
Click through the gallery below to see the renderings of the forthcoming plant.
KOREPlex
The massive plant, which was named one of the largest industrial construction projects in the nation, will go up at the southeast corner of State Route 85 and Baseline Road. KORE Power expects to break ground later this year, ramp up hiring in 2023 and start production in 2024.
KORE Power sold 5% of its company to Australian battery materials company Novonix in a nearly $25 million deal, which closed in late January. KORE received 50% of that amount in cash and the other 50% as Novonix stock.
Under a supply agreement between the two companies, Novonix will be the exclusive supplier of graphite anode materials for the lithium-ion batteries that will be produced at KORE's planned Buckeye site.
Electric vehicles are becoming more in focus as the effects of climate change become more severe and Arizona leaders are working to seize on this trend by establishing the state as a major hub for electric vehicles. Companies like Lucid Motors, Nikola Corp., Local Motors, ElectraMeccanica and Atlis Motors are building or expecting to build their EVs in Arizona.
