ELYRIA, OH—Today in Elyria, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) marked the grand opening of BASF’s new battery materials production plant, which will create 25 new jobs. Brown helped secure a $24.6 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) under the Recovery Act’s Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative to partly fund construction of the facility, which is one of the largest and most advanced cathode material production plants in the world.

“BASF is helping make Ohio the Silicon Valley for clean energy manufacturing. As our reliance on foreign sources of energy grows more and more unsustainable, American consumers will turn to hybrid and fully-electric vehicles—powered by lithium-ion battery materials made by BASF,” Brown said. “We know how to make things in Ohio—from tires to car frames and now advanced battery materials. BASF’s Elyria plant will bring new, good-paying, cutting-edge jobs to Lorain County.”

“We are delighted to celebrate the launch of this new commercial-scale production plant, which highlights the strong alliance BASF has established with the US Department of Energy and the state of Ohio to deliver advanced battery materials that can provide higher energy density and greater power,” said Frank Bozich, President of BASF’s Catalysts Division.  “We understand that chemical innovations will be vital to making electromobility more sustainable, affordable and ubiquitous in the years ahead, and we are proud of our role in driving this progress.”

According to the company, the materials produced at the Elyria plant will be used by BASF’s customers to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries that will propel current and next-generation hybrid and full electric vehicles. The new facility is four stories tall and 70,000 square feet.