By Marty Price. Less than one year after taking possession of the former Philip Morris complex in Cabarrus County, Alevo is poised to add hundreds to the work force at its Victory Industrial Park. Located on Highway 29 in Concord, the 2,100 acre site has been abuzz with activity since the materials to build the first assembly line arrived this spring.

In a phone interview from his office in Florida, Scott Schotter, chief marketing officer and sustainability officer for Alevo, said, “We are very excited about our progress right now, we have successfully made batteries,” the first step in bringing the first line into production at the cutting edge technology battery plant.

The lithium ion batteries produced there will be using an inorganic electrolyte developed at their headquarters in Switzerland and assembled on a line different from most of their competitors.  Schotter said theirs is the only inorganic lithium ion battery—which is non-flammable and non-combustible—and the first utility grade battery for this application.

The final product, a GridBank, is a large capacity energy storage system for the electric grid. Just one contains approximately 14,000 of the batteries and the assembly line to produce them is almost ready.  “We are in the process of getting the kinks out of the system.  We’re very close, we are on the verge of production, ” said Schotter.

He didn’t want to give an exact date for the start of production because of the uniqueness of the product and the way it is being assembled.  “We’re creating history here.  We will be in production soon, but it will be ready when it is ready,” he said.

Currently the 130 workers on site are preparing the first line for production. “In the next quarter, when that line is ready for production, we will be hiring a couple of hundred people,” he said. “We are pleased with the quality of response and we will hire as we build out our production lines.”

The company will be offering a very competitive salary and benefits package. “We want to hire the best workers,” Schotter said.

The old Philip Morris complex came with the infrastructure to meet most of their needs, which made it faster to reach production.  The 3.5 million-square-foot plant can house up to 20 lines for assembly of the GridBanks.

Alevo plans to open more lines, and hire more workers, as the demand in the market dictates.  Hoping that the demand for their new battery will necessitate opening all the lines he said, “When our facility is really humming there will be thousands of workers on site.”

Alevo originally spent almost $69 million for the complex, with a projected cost of about $1 billion to reach full capacity for production.  Schotter said Concord will be the company’s main focus for years to come. “Our goal is to fill that (the Concord facility) before we open other facilities.”

With an additional 1,500 acres of undeveloped land there is room for future expansion.  “We look forward to building a long and prosperous relationship with Cabarrus County and the city of Concord,” he said.