New Deere facility to produce battery-electric components in Kernersville
Deere will build a 115,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to expand production of Kreisel Electric products. The new plant will be located in Kernersville, North Carolina, where the company already produces excavators.
Kreisel, which John Deere acquired majority ownership of in 2022, produces battery technology for e-mobility and stationary systems as well as comprehensive Level 3 charging solutions. The planned production facility can support a production capacity of up to 2 GWh, according to Deere. The facility is expected to begin production in 2025.
Read also: Deere ups investment in battery maker Kreisel
“Our customers are facing challenges that require their businesses to be more dynamic than ever before," said Jennifer Preston, global director of John Deere electric powertrain and CEO of Kreisel, in a statement. "We are engineering the technological innovations they’ll rely on to do so. Together with Kreisel, John Deere is expanding its electrification portfolio to include more scalable solutions to meet a wider range of our customers' application needs."
This new facility will support a production capacity increase to serve the off-highway market in North America, according to the company. John Deere is also upfitting a facility to enable battery production at its factory in Saran, France— the primary manufacturing location for John Deere engines in Europe.
The new facility will be equipped to produce Kreisel battery pack designs and CHIMERO chargers as the company reinforces its commitment to helping John Deere and original equipment manufacturers navigate the rapidly changing electrification landscape.
“As the demand for electric solutions continues to increase, this strategic investment in growing our production capacity will help strengthen our position as an international battery technology leader," said Pierre Guyot, SVPresident of John Deere Power Systems and chairman of Kreisel. "Within the evolving off-highway equipment market, we are prioritizing the development of a robust charging ecosystem and battery portfolio that can support and sustain the long-term adoption of electrification across a wide variety of applications,”
Source: John Deere
