Environment Journal spotlight This month we’re putting the spotlight on Electrovaya Inc. (NASDAQ: ELVA) (TSX: ELVA), a leader in the global energy transformation, focused on contributing to the prevention of climate change by supplying safe and long-lasting lithium-ion batteries.
The company offers an extensive array of intellectual property and designs, as it develops and manufactures proprietary lithium-ion batteries and battery systems for energy storage and heavy-duty electric vehicles based on its Infinity Battery Technology Platform. This technology offers enhanced safety and industry leading battery longevity. The company is also developing next generation solid state battery technology at its Labs division.
Headquartered in Mississauga, Ont., Electrovaya has two main operating sites in Canada and has acquired a 52-acre site with a 135,000 square foot manufacturing facility in New York state for its planned gigafactory.
Top: Electrovaya’s headquarters is a 65,000 square foot engineering and development centre in Mississauga, Ont. Right: The gigafactory in Jamestown, NY features a 137,000 square foot building that is powered by 100 MWh of renewable energy from Niagara Falls. Credit: Electrovaya.
CEO Dr. Raj DasGupta has been with Electrovaya for over a decade, following in his father’s footsteps. He has been involved with every aspect of the business from cell manufacturing, engineering activities and business development to the operations management and senior executive strategy.
In the early days, the company was focused on car batteries and found itself fighting for a lane in a very competitive market. But DasGupta helped switch gears to focus efforts on the niche battery cell technology for heavy equipment. Major milestones have included the development of a leading forklift battery and cells that now power more than 100 facilities for major customers such as Walmart Inc., Target, The Raymond Corporation and its parent company, Toyota Material Handling, and more.
In 2003, the Nasdaq team selected Raj DasGupta and the Electrovaya team to ring the closing bell on the company’s inaugural trading day. Credit: Electrovaya.
“We’ve had steady growth,” says DasGupta. “In terms of employee growth, we employed 20 people in 2018 and now we have over 100 people in Ontario right now, about half of whom are in engineering or research and development.”
Revenues are also on the rise, from US$5 million in 2018 to US$44 million last fiscal year and a projected growth of US$65 million for this year. In fact, over the past five years, the share price has climbed 310%.
What are the key priorities for the next few years?
DasGupta says he intends to maintain conservative spending, so the company remains in a profitable mindset. While he prepares the NY facility for the demand they see coming in 2026, he also intends to expand into other sectors that employ heavy equipment, including mining, construction, and defence.
Electrovaya’s Infinity Battery Systems feature unique ceramic composite cell separator materials are proven to provide the safest nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) based Lithium-ion cells on the market. Credit: Electrovaya.
The CEO sees the opportunity to expand not only in North America, but globally. He just returned from a trip to Australia where some of the heavy equipment in operation was consuming a whopping 1,000 litres of diesel per day.
“Our products provide a significant decrease of GHGs and a much higher return on investment. This tech should be the go-to for all things heavy duty,” emphasizes DeGupta. “All of this equipment has to be decarbonized down the road and we have the safe and cost-effective solution for it.”