Lithos Energy, a lithium-battery startup based in San Rafael, has opened a new manufacturing and pilot plant in Hayward, the company announced Monday.
The 65,000-square-foot facility on 28345 Industrial Blvd. will produce battery systems for a variety of electric vehicles like cars, trucks, boats and off-road equipment. The company signed a deal this year with Caterpillar for an undisclosed amount of funding and to supply batteries used in the equipmentmaker's electric-powered construction vehicles.
The plant will be Lithos' second manufacturing facility, following its much smaller 18,000-square-foot plant in San Rafael. Both are essentially pilot plants used to show the viability of its product as the company expands with much larger facilities closer to those of its vehicle-maker customers.
When the Hayward plant reaches full capacity, it will likely produce around 500 megawatts worth of batteries a year and employ around 250 workers, said Lithos CEO James Meredith.
This plant will likely be the company's last in the Bay Area, he added, as it sets its sights on manufacturing hubs in the Midwest in an effort to open a new facility every few years.
"We are really using this as a jumping-off point to create larger manufacturing facilities in more strategic areas," Meredith said. "This area is a great location for engineering talent, for developing technologies and for putting together pilot plants or pilot lines, but for our gigafactory, and everyone's got to have a gigafactory these days, it will likely be in an area that is outside the Bay Area."
Meredith says what sets Lithos apart from other battery manufacturers is its ability to produce batteries optimized for specific vehicles under a common architecture.
Lithos was founded in 2015 and until its Caterpillar deal operated without outside funding. The company has around 60 employees and plans to hire more to staff its new plant.
While Meredith says the company has in the past had quarters of profitability, the company is focusing on growth, operating at a loss as it builds new facilities.
"We want to do another big opening every couple of years," he said. "Obviously now, we need to focus on getting this one up and running smooth, and then we will have our eyes on the next facility."
