EnerVenue, a US battery start-up that once planned its first factory in Kentucky, has begun production at a new facility in China. The move comes as Donald Trump seeks to bring manufacturing back to the US, highlighting the supply-chain advantages that continue to make China attractive for emerging technology companies.
A US battery start-up that abandoned plans for its first factory in Kentucky has begun mass production at a new facility in China, underscoring the difficulties facing President Donald Trump’s push to bring advanced manufacturing back to America.
EnerVenue started production at its plant in Changzhou on Thursday, coinciding with Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. The timing was accidental, chief executive Henning Rath told Reuters, but the location reflects a practical decision about where the company could develop its technology at commercial scale.
For EnerVenue, China offered something that the company concluded would be difficult to reproduce in the US at a comparable stage: a dense network of industrial suppliers, engineering expertise and automation specialists.
China offered the manufacturing depth
Changzhou is a major centre for China’s new-energy industry, giving EnerVenue access to companies supplying equipment and components needed to build its production line. Rath said the concentration of expertise allowed engineers to make rapid changes as they refined what he described as a first-of-its-kind manufacturing process.
“The secret sauce is this industrial cluster,” Rath told Reuters.
The company’s decision is notable because EnerVenue had initially looked to the US for its manufacturing base. In 2023, it announced plans for a $264 million first phase of a Kentucky factory that was expected to create about 450 jobs. The project was abandoned the following year after the company concluded that both its battery and manufacturing process required further development.
More from TechRath said the Kentucky experience helped EnerVenue identify what needed to change. The company subsequently redesigned its battery as well as the factory intended to produce it.
The Changzhou facility is roughly 95 per cent automated and is expected to employ about 400 workers by the end of this year. Rath put its cost at between $20 million and $50 million, while saying public support was mainly confined to permitting, certification and site-selection assistance.
EnerVenue develops nickel-hydrogen batteries based on technology associated with NASA missions, including systems used on the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station. The company has research and development operations in Fremont, California, and was founded by Stanford materials science professor Yi Cui.
US remains part of EnerVenue’s plans
The company’s China investment does not mean it has abandoned the North American market. EnerVenue plans to establish additional manufacturing sites in North America, Europe and the Middle East from 2028, with locations expected to be selected next year.
The company expects its Chinese factory to reach annual production of 250 megawatt hours this year, equivalent to about 300 battery cells a day. It is targeting 1 gigawatt hour of capacity by the third quarter of 2027.
EnerVenue raised more than $300 million in March in a funding round led by Full Vision Capital, the family office of Hong Kong property heir Peter Lee Ka-kit. Saudi Aramco and SLB were among the other investors, while Rath said the broader group linked to Lee includes EnerVenue customer Towngas.
For now, China is serving as a launchpad for the company’s manufacturing ambitions. Rath said the country’s industrial base provided a critical step towards eventually establishing production elsewhere.
Asked whether EnerVenue would build a US factory, he said the company wanted to operate in the North American market but that the decision would depend partly on future legislation and regulation.
The episode illustrates one of the obstacles confronting efforts to relocate advanced manufacturing: government incentives can influence where companies invest, but access to mature supplier networks, specialist skills and manufacturing infrastructure can be equally important when a young technology company is trying to scale.
(Inputs from Reuters)
