ReVolt plugs into new Airport Way HQ
By Erik Siemers
Business Journal staff writer
Swiss battery technology firm ReVolt Technology LLC on Friday said it has selected a site for its North American headquarters in Portland.
The company said it has also been approved for $6.8 million in tax credits and loans from the Oregon Department of Energy and the Portland Development Commission to help develop its rechargeable battery technology for electric vehicles.
ReVolt will move into the city’s Airport Way Urban Renewal Area at 12021 NE Airport Way. It expects to begin its battery development work there in October and add about 150 jobs between now and 2015. It had been working out of temporary offices in downtown Portland’s World Trade Center building.
ReVolt announced in September 2009 that it had chosen Portland for its U.S. headquarters, where it would host a research and manufacturing operation to develop zinc-air battery technology for use in electric vehicles and other applications.
After its initial announcement, ReVolt remained mostly quiet as it sought to land federal stimulus grants to develop the operation. The company broke its silence in April, when it received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program.
Now it adds a $6.8 million package of incentives that includes loans from the PDC and the Oregon Department of Energy’s State Energy Loan Program.
“These funding milestones will help us continue executing according to plan as we expand our team, operations and business strategies in North America,” said ReVolt CEO James P. McDougall in a news release.
ReVolt is working to commercialize its rechargeable battery technology using zinc, an abundant industrial mineral, which it says makes the battery a more efficient and less expensive alternative to the prevalent lithium-ion technology.
Since its launch in 2004, ReVolt has focused largely on developing the technology for small consumer electronics — from hearing aids to mobile phones. In an interview in May, McDougall said the company plans on rolling out a range of consumer applications over the next two to four years.
The Portland center will work on developing the technology for larger applications, with a focus on electric vehicles and large-scale electricity storage devices.
esiemers@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3418
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