Electrovaya Inc. (“Electrovaya” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:ELVA)(TSX:ELVA), a leading lithium-ion battery technology and manufacturing company, has announced that it has closed a direct loan in the amount of US$50.8 million from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (“EXIM”) under the bank’s ‘Make More in America’ initiative.
The Company has also met substantially all of EXIM’s condition precedents required to begin drawdowns on the loan.
This financing will fund Electrovaya’s battery manufacturing buildout in Jamestown, New York including equipment, engineering and setup costs for the facility. Electrovaya has rapidly increasing demand for its products from a wide range of heavy duty and mission critical electrified applications, and it has been a priority of the Company to expand its manufacturing operations in the United States for these vital products. The Company’s manufacturing facility in Jamestown is scheduled to produce Electrovaya’s proprietary Infinity lithium-ion ceramic cells, which offer industry leading longevity and safety.
The battery manufacturing facility in Jamestown is expected to lead to over 250 jobs and support Electrovaya’s exports to Japan, Canada and Australia. Furthermore, the facility will both benefit from and help support developing supply chains in the US for lithium-ion battery production.
Key Features of the Agreement:
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Loan Amount: $50.8 million
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Term: Six years following drawdown period including one year of interest only payments followed by five years of interest and principal payments.
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Effective Interest Rate: To be finalized prior to the first disbursement but expected to be between 6 and 7 percent annualized.
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Use of Proceeds: $46.4 million for lithium-ion cell, module and battery pack manufacturing, $5.3 million for construction and engineering.
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Other Key Terms: Intercreditor agreement with the Bank of Montreal (“BMO”), who is providing a $20.0 million facility to support working capital requirements.
“The funding from EXIM is a game changer and instrumental for our capacity expansion strategy of lithium-ion cell production in the United States,” said Dr. Raj DasGupta, CEO of Electrovaya. “Our facility in Jamestown is powered by low cost renewable hydro electricity and will produce the longest lasting and safest lithium-ion cells in the world when it starts commercial shipments in 2026. We expect this expansion to support our plans for exponential growth and lead to improvements in our margins through vertical integration. We are also well underway with the start of battery system assembly in Jamestown, which is anticipated to start in Q2 CY2025.”
