ZAF investing in battery production

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JOPLIN, MO – ZAF Energy Systems is opening a new production facility in Joplin, Missouri, dedicated to making rechargeable nickel zinc (NiZN) batteries – marketed as a replacement for lead-acid batteries.

The new facility is expected to employ more than 100 people, but will begin with 25.

ZAF says it is expanding production capacity to “seed the market” in key industries including heavy trucking as well as automotive, remote telecom, renewable energy, and marine.

 “We just weren’t able to keep up with the demand with the capacity we had in Montana,” said ZAF president and Chief Executive Officer Randy Moore, in a statement released today. “The new production facility in Joplin will drastically scale up production to several thousand batteries per month, enabling us to keep pace with growing demand while also refining manufacturing processes and accelerating development efforts. The end result will be a turnkey engineering package we can deliver to manufacturers with customer demand already built into the equation.”

Montana will continue to serve as ZAF’s research and development hub. Five existing employees will be transferred to Missouri to join 20 new employees.

NiZn batteries offer twice the storage capacity and three times the power of traditional lead-acid batteries, in a smaller and lighter package, the company says.

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John G. Smith is Newcom Media's vice-president - editorial, and the editorial director of its trucking publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, and Transport Routier. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.


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