ABS to Acquire Robert Bosch Battery and Offer Production, Testing, and Manufacturing
American Battery Solutions, Inc. (ABS), a newly established company, has emerged from stealth mode, with the signing of an agreement to acquire the manufacturing and testing assets for high-voltage battery systems from Robert Bosch Battery Systems.
The terms of the sale will not be disclosed, and the sale is subject to the successful completion of certain closing conditions.
ABS was founded by a long-time innovator & industry leader Subhash Dhar and by KCK Group, a principal investment firm with offices in New York, London, the Bay Area, and Dubai. KCK Group has committed over $50 million in capital to ABS to bring electrified mobility battery systems to new emerging transportation, industrial, and commercial markets.
Under the proposed agreement with Robert Bosch Battery Systems, ABS will get the testing lab assets for high-voltage battery systems and will lease a 40,000 sq. ft. space in Lake Orion, Michigan, for offices and the assembly of prototype battery packs.
In addition, ABS will acquire the 172,000 sq. ft. facility in Springboro, Ohio, where Robert Bosch Battery Systems has assembled lithium-ion battery packs for the automotive industry since 2009.
"We are proud to offer capabilities to the market through the acquisition of high-voltage assets," said Subhash Dhar, Founder, Chairman and CEO of American Battery Solutions, Inc.
ABS intends to develop, design, test and manufacture modular battery solutions for underserved transportation, commercial, and industrial markets, primarily in North American and Europe, according to Subhash Dhar. "ABS brings an experienced team of world-class battery professionals and automotive experts with an entrepreneurial mindset together with world-class development and manufacturing facilities. We're a new start, not a start-up," Dhar said.
ABS will employ more than 50 experienced experts and associates between the two locations.
Engineering, Testing, and Manufacturing Services
The company plans to partner with leading OEMs, system integrators, and battery makers to supplement and extend their brands. It will offer a combination of services including engineering, testing, and manufacturing. The venture will partner with leading battery cell makers, to offer a variety of chemistries and cell form factors to optimize each application.
Market research firm, IDTechEx forecasts that the electric vehicle market will attain $1.1 trillion in sales by 2028, including the markets for construction, agriculture & mining which will rise to over $100bn by 2029 as lithium-ion battery prices decrease, enabling solid value propositions in these applications.
Target Applications
Target applications for the company will include high performance and autonomous EVs; buses, delivery trucks, and utility vehicles; marine and rail; mobile commercial power; material handling equipment; as well as agriculture, construction, and mining equipment.
"We will leverage our significant automotive experience to bring electrified mobility battery systems to new emerging transportation, industrial and commercial segments," Dhar said. "We see tremendous opportunity for growth in robust battery systems with flexible business models as the business cases in these new segments are enabled with lower cost lithium-ion batteries," Dhar said.
