Amprius Technologies wins up to US$75M grant for domestic battery line
Most of the award remains unfunded as Amprius targets 12 million cells a year from a converted U.S. line by early 2028.
Ines Halvorsen
Early 2028 is the target for a U.S. line capable of making 12 million battery cells a year, Amprius Technologies, Inc. NYSEAMPX said Monday as it announced a federal grant of up to US$75 million. The proposed conversion would cost about US$100 million, so the award could cover as much as three quarters of that bill if it is funded and paid in full. The U.S. Department of War is the grant counterparty; an unnamed South Korean manufacturer operates the line, and Amprius gave no award term in its Sept. 28 announcement.
Amprius shares closed at US$9.75 on Friday, Sept. 25, according to its NYSEAMPX quote page, timed three seconds past 4 p.m. EDT. That close preceded Monday's award announcement, so it does not measure the market's response to the grant.
The Sept. 28 release says the money comes through the department's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, which supports manufacturing capacity for U.S. defense. Amprius plans to convert an existing electric vehicle battery line to make high-energy-density pouch cells for unmanned aircraft. The company forecasts annual capacity of 12 million cells by early 2028, but gave no figure for energy output in megawatt-hours or contracted deliveries.
Amprius says its approximately US$100 million cost estimate includes in-kind investment from both it and its manufacturing partner. The release does not break out either party's cash contribution or set a payment schedule. As of Sept. 28, the company says a majority of the federal award remains unfunded and depends on future appropriations; payments also require the U.S. government to accept specified milestones.
The Grant Depends on Accepted Milestones
The South Korean partner's U.S. line already makes electric vehicle batteries, but Amprius did not identify its operator or location in the Sept. 28 announcement. It did not give a retrofit schedule, a first shipment date or lead times for the equipment needed to convert the line. Its early 2028 completion target is therefore the only dated production milestone in that release.
The company says the cells are intended to meet National Defense Authorization Act domestic sourcing requirements for Group 1, 2 and 3 drones. The Sept. 28 release names no customer order attached to the converted line, so the 12 million cells a year expected by early 2028 is proposed manufacturing capacity rather than booked deliveries.
"This DoW grant is intended to establish a primary source of domestic, NDAA-compliant battery production," Amprius chief executive Tom Stepien said in the release.
Amprius has sought federal support for U.S. cell production before. In June 2023, it and the Department of Energy ended negotiations on a US$50 million cost-sharing grant for a proposed factory in Brighton, Colorado. That earlier plan called for an initial 500-megawatt-hour phase, then expected to operate by 2025. It differed from the new approach of retrofitting a partner's existing line.
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Amprius did not disclose payment dates in its Sept. 28 announcement, leaving the size and timing of federal support conditional on appropriations and accepted milestones. Amprius's next dated production milestone is its early 2028 target for completion of the 12 million-cell annual line.
