SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle company has broken ground for a plant in Albany, Oregon, to make parts for new high-tech car batteries.
Work started Tuesday to convert a former warehouse into the factory for EnerG2. Albany was chosen for the site because one of EnerG2’s partners, Oregon Freeze Dry, is headquartered there.
EnerG2 CEO Rick Luebbe tells The Seattle Times that the plant should be operating by October 2011 and will employ at least 35 people when running at full capacity.
The company received a $21.3 million stimulus grant from the Department of Energy to help build the factory. It will make high-performance carbon electrode material for use in “ultracapacitors,” devices that researchers say could make electric-vehicle batteries smaller, cheaper and more powerful.
