Navitas' new production facility

Navitas Systems is expanding its lithium forklift battery production into a new manufacturing facility near its current Ann Arbor, Michigan site.

"We are seeing very strong growth in both of our main businesses - the commercial Starlifter product line, as well as our government and defence lithium cell business," says Kevin Hykin, president and chief operating officer. "Securing this new 100,000 sqft. (9,300 sqm) Starlifter manufacturing centre enables us to provide site-specific focus and a growth path for each of these lines of businesses."

Navitas has witnessed an almost 200% year-over-year growth in Starlifter revenues.

"We see the forklift market taking a significant turn toward lithium, particularly in two- and three-shift applications," says Mil Ovan, president and chief marketing officer. "The new Starlifter manufacturing centre will enable the company to rapidly scale its production to meet expected high demand of our North American customers."

The move of Starlifter production from its current location will start immediately, and the new building will be phased in so that production deliveries are not impacted.

The move also enables the company to expand the footprint of a recently installed automated lithium custom cell production line at the nearby R&D and manufacturing centre to handle the increased demand coming from government agencies like the US Navy and US Army.

Navitas' product portfolio ranges from customer-specific energy storage solutions to integrated energy systems for renewable energy and lithium-ion standard batteries as a replacement for conventional lead-acid batteries.