ONE to supply batteries for Shyft electric trucks

By Paul Lienert

(Reuters) - Michigan-based startup Our Next Energy, better known as ONE, said Thursday it will supply batteries to Shyft Group for its Blue Arc electric commercial vehicles.

ONE is slated to provide more than 15,000 battery packs over the next five years for Shyft’s Class 3, 4 and 5 trucks.

ONE’s Aries lithium iron phosphate packs will be produced, starting in late March, at a new plant in Van Buren Township, Michigan, about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Detroit. The plant is being operated in partnership with Piston Automotive.

Shyft will get Aries packs in two sizes: 62 and 79 kilowatt-hours.

The agreement with Shyft is the latest in a series of EV supply deals that include truck startup Bollinger Motors and commercial vehicle producer Motiv Power Systems.

In early March, ONE also said its Aries packs would be used for large-scale energy storage at an industrial site in West Virginia being developed by Berkshire Hathaway’s BNE Renewables.

ONE in February said it had raised $300 million in a Series B round that put its valuation at $1.2 billion. Investors include BMW iVentures, Assembly Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Volta Energy Technologies, Flex, Temasek and Coatue.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)