Piston Automotive, a member of the Piston Group companies, has announced a new partnership with Our Next Energy (ONE), a developer of energy storage technology, to manufacture EV batteries at Piston Automotive’s facility located in Van Buren Township, Michigan.
“We are thrilled to partner with Our Next Energy,” said Piston Group’s Founder and Chairman, Vinnie Johnson. “Our collaborative relationship and combined experience in electrification design and manufacturing assembly will be evident in the quality of the battery packs that we produce for the next generation of electric commercial vehicles.”
“The Piston Group has a proven track record as a high-quality manufacturing partner for battery packs,” said Mujeeb Ijaz, founder and CEO of ONE. “Their experience makes them an ideal partner to assemble our Aries pack.”
The new venture will mass produce ONE’s Aries™ battery pack, which uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) chemistry in a Structural Cell to Pack™ architecture. In simple terms, this allows ONE’s customers to increase range and reduce cost while eliminating nickel- and-cobalt supply chain and safety concerns.
“When the project with ONE surfaced, we knew it would be a great opportunity to explore.” said Piston Automotive’s President, Bob Holloway. “Our commitment to growth and product expansion over the past decade with other EV industry leading partners has been a key foundation to our success. Piston Automotive’s expertise in battery assembly process design, testing and service, combined with ONE’s innovative battery pack design is an exciting opportunity and a great fit for our long-term strategy.”
PistonGroup, comprised of Piston Automotive, Irvin Automotive Products, Detroit Thermal Systems, and newly acquired A Lava & Son Co., is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan. It designs, engineers, assembles and manufactures a wide variety of automotive parts and systems. Piston Group was founded in 1995 by industry magnate and former NBA champion Vinnie Johnson, and is one of the largest private, minority-owned automotive suppliers in North America.