Deere bets on battery technology

John Deere has announced that it is making an immediate investment in two additional locations to increase the production capacity expansion of Kreisel Electric, the battery technology pioneer in which John Deere recently acquired majority ownership.

According to Deere & Company this will bring an increase of over 2GWh to Kreisel battery production capacity, beginning with the opening of a new facility at the John Deere Saran factory in France, the primary manufacturing location for John Deere engines in the European Union.

At the same time, Deere is also investing in battery assembly in the US.

“This investment will put a strong focus on the industrialisation and automation of the entire production process, as well as research and development capacities at Kreisel HQ in Rainbach,” said Jennifer Preston, Global Director, John Deere Electric Power.

By leveraging the established expertise at the Saran facility, Kreisel will have access to an established supply chain management, manufacturing engineering, quality assurance, logistics coordination and automation solutions. The funds from the investment will primarily be deployed within the mobile commercial and industrial solutions as well as the charging infrastructure division of Kreisel.

Markus Kreisel, Managing Director, Kreisel Electric said, “We welcome this strategic investment to help us answer the ever-increasing international demand for Kreisel battery technology.”

Deere added that the strategic alignment with Kreisel will also serve as the cornerstone for the electrification of John Deere products and that the current global energy market is calling for sustainable and efficient battery solutions.

“We are embarking toward a future with zero emissions propulsion and pursuing our sustainability goal to demonstrate viable low- and no-carbon alternative power solutions by 2026,” added Preston.