Quallion Selects Palmdale, Calif. For New Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing Facility

9 July 2009

Quallion LLC, a leading developer of customized lithium ion batteries, has selected Palmdale, Calif., as the location for a new $220 million battery manufacturing plant. (Earlier post.) More than $10.6 million in incentives have been offered to Quallion by the City of Palmdale for the development of the facility.

Proposed incentives include tax credits, fee waivers and the sale of 9.65 acres of land in the Fairway Business Park for the price of $1. The City of Palmdale’s proposal further supports Quallion’s application for funding to build this plant under the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Recovery Act - Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative.

The announcement follows the endorsement of California’s Congressional Delegation and the California Energy Commission’s announcement that it will provide up to $9 million in cost sharing for Quallion’s new manufacturing facility if the company receives a funding award from the DOE. (Earlier post.)

If its DOE and California Energy Commission bids are granted, Quallion will begin construction of its new lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility immediately, with the facility slated to be complete in 2012.

Quallion’s proposed lithium-ion battery facility will produce batteries for automobiles as well as batteries that replace engine idling as a stationary power source for heavy duty trucks. Anti-idling laws, which forbid the use of engine idling in a stationary truck to power electrical systems that run air conditioning and heating, exist in 24 states and the District of Columbia.