As Chattanooga plant expands production for batteries, we ask how EV sales come in to play

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A battery technology company in Chattanooga is celebrating a new project to produce more synthetic graphite.

The company, NOVONIX, says synthetic graphite is a crucial ingredient for the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and other products.

But the EV market is seeing a lot of upheaval. And for the Chattanooga-made EV vehicle, sales numbers show a slump in demand over the last year.

NOVONIX says right now, China supplies virtually all of the world’s supply of synthetic graphite.

The batteries NOVONIX produces are used for multiple applications, including electric vehicles like the ones produced at Volkswagen.

The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy came to Chattanooga to highlight Chattanooga’s Novonix as part of the clean energy supply chain.

“This refitted facility will produce 20,000 tons per year of high performance synthetic graphite.”

As they create a bigger workforce, and utilize a new federal energy tax credit, NOVONIX says they are on track to become North America’s first large scale production facility of synthetic graphite for lithium ion batteries.

Some of those batteries go into the EVs you see on the roads in Chattanooga.

“Without maintaining affordable, reliable, and abundant energy technologies. We will put economic growth at risk and it is a security risks.”

EV is a focus in Chattanooga not just because of NOVONIX, but because of Volkswagen’s ID 4, which is produced at our hometown facility.

But VW’s first quarter sales numbers show a slump. In fact, there was a 37% drop in ID 4 purchases from the year before.

And the auto manufacturer just told us this week, they are moving some employee shifts to the Atlas SUV as demand in THAT model grows.

We took these numbers to the Deputy Secretary of Energy to see how it fits into these new investments in electric batteries.

“I think when we think batteries, we need to be thinking not just EVs, but we need to be thinking batteries across the board.”

Bloomberg reports some other EV automakers are seeing better numbers than our Chattanooga-made ID 4.

“There’s more choices out there. And what we’re finding is, as we’re able to reduce those costs, as we’re able to get to price points that work for a lot of Americans, that work for all Americans, there’s more and more pickup on it.”

And as drivers look for vehicles that aren’t only good for the environment, but are also affordable, and can provide reliability on long trips as well, the Deputy Secretary says…

“We’re building out our EV charging infrastructure, that’s something we absolutely need to have in place. So people can feel comfortable that they can drive, they won’t have that range anxiety.”

City Leaders say making materials for lithium batteries here in Chattanooga will help solve supply chain issues, because they won’t have to be shipped from Asia.