US-based ENTEK Lithium Separators has announced it has been issued a conditional loan of $1.2 billion by the US Department of Energy’s loans office to finance a plant in Indiana, for making lithium-ion battery separators used in EVs.
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In a release, the firm said the project will support around 1.9 million mid-size EVs or 1.3 million electric SUVS. The plant, in Terre Haute, Indiana, is expected to create more than 760 construction jobs and 635 operational jobs.
The project will strengthen and onshore the lithium-ion battery cell supply chain, enabling the creation of batteries used in advanced technology vehicles for EV propulsion.
ENTEK CEO Larry Keith said: “For forty years, ENTEK has been serving the battery separator needs of its customers with a commitment to productivity and innovation that our customers require for their battery applications.”
If finalised, the loan would be offered through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program that has $40 billion in direct lending authority, according to Reuters.
ENTEK added that domestic EV manufacturing has surged in response to the massive growth in the domestic and global EV markets and the financial incentives recently made available under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
It says it aims to become the US’s first end-to-end, domestic supplier of “wet process” battery separators for the North American lithium-ion EV battery market.
