A first-of-its-kind battery factory has officially been opened by eLumina on the Gold Coast, with its first model set to come off the production line in 2025.
The $20 million manufacturing and development centre is the first factory in Australia that will be capable of producing both community lithium batteries and EV chargers. It is set to produce 300 batteries and EV chargers per year and support up to 300 jobs on the Gold Coast.
Queensland is attempting to position itself as a world-leader in the production of sustainable battery technology and eLumina’s D1 model, crucially, is the only EV charger on the Australian market that can provide charging in regional and remote locations where power is low or unstable.
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CEO of eLumina, Lisa Marsh, expressed her pride at reaching such a significant milestone in the Australian EV industry.
“We are extremely proud to officially open our factory here at Yatala on the Gold Coast,” Marsh says.
“We are ambitious to back 300 highly technical and sought-after jobs and we’re proud to partner with TAFE Queensland to support the training and pathways into these jobs.
“Our goal is for our next factory to be three times the size with the potential to employ up to 300 people directly and support many more.
“Our factory diversifies Australia’s manufacturing industry, building economic resilience and contributing to energy sovereignty and strengthening a ‘Gold Coast Made’ economy.
“We’re proud to be contributing to Australia’s energy future through pushing the dial forward on battery storage to secure Australia’s energy future and support the transition to net-zero.”
The Smart Energy Council has also partnered with eLumina to help enable Australia to progress its capacity in the EV space to become a global leader.
Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes says eLumina’s new factory is a great example of innovation within the Australian battery landscape.
“We’re proud to partner with eLumina and support them with their mission of securing a sustainable energy future for Australians and supporting Australia becoming a global leader in this sector,” Grimes says.
“What the team at eLumina have done is truly innovative and applying cutting-edge practices to be the first in the country to manufacture community lithium batteries and EV chargers.”
eLumina has also partnered with Addelec in its venture to support the deployment of their battery-integrated EV chargers with a focus on regional connectivity.
Addelec CEO Chris McPherson says it’s crucial to find different EV solutions for Australia due to the “sheer size” of the country, and the partnership between the companies will hopefully make headway in solving the unique issue.
“When we look globally, especially at places like Europe with a higher uptake of EVs, they’re navigating smaller and more densely populated areas,” McPherson says.
“When we zoom out to the sheer size of Australia, we need to take a different approach.
“[We’re] considering existing power challenges in across Australia, and in turn we hope to see an uptake in EV users across Australia.”
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