Novi battery startup Our Next Energy lays off more workers
Novi battery startup Our Next Energy Inc. again is laying off workers after cutting a quarter of its staff and instituting a new CEO late last year.
The latest reduction includes 37 jobs, 24 of which are in Michigan, as the company deemphasizes administrative roles in favor of its technical work, according to a statement. That’ll leave about 240 employees in Michigan and closer to 270 nationally. The job cuts come after Paul Humphries took over as CEO in December.
“ONE is reinforcing its commitment to its research & development, engineering, supply chain and manufacturing functions,” according to the statement sent by spokesperson Dan Pierce. “To accomplish this, the company is re-aligning resources and reducing overall operating expenses in its non-product related functions. This decision will enable ONE to operate in a more financially efficient manner and support the company’s ongoing efforts to attract additional strategic and financial investors.”
The cuts come amid a series of other layoffs among suppliers and manufacturers like Rivian Automotive Inc. Billions of dollars in investments for EVs have been cut or delayed as consumer demand has shown it’s not keeping up with industry expectations. EV affordability, access to charging stations, range, and charging speeds have held up adoption.
That’s cooled fundraising efforts in the EV space, despite ONE obtaining $300 million in early 2023 for a more than $1 billion valuation. By November, ONE was laying off 128 workers in response to market conditions and to focus on “core priorities.”
Weeks later, the startup said Humphries was taking over from founder Mujeeb Ijaz, who remains with the company as chief technology officer leading project engineering. Humphries has more than 40 years of manufacturing and operations experience.
The latest workforce reduction at ONE won’t affect battery cell production at ONE Circle, its manufacturing plant in Van Buren Township. Backed by more than $200 million in state incentive, a $1.6 billion investment was announced in 2022 for the plant, which is expected to employ more than 2,000 people and produce the equivalent of 200,000 EV battery packs annually when it operates at full capacity as early as the end of 2027.
In October, ONE began pilot production of lithium iron phosphate battery cells at the Van Buren Township plant. Production of the company’s Aries LFP battery packs started earlier in 2023 at Piston Automotive in southeast Michigan.
“ONE is focused on meeting the demands for domestically produced cells and packs and accelerating the shift to electrification through innovative battery solutions that will be built at the company’s 659,000 sq. ft battery cell factory in Michigan,” the company’s statement said. “These innovations uniquely position ONE with products that will double the range for electric vehicles and double the energy capacity of conventional utility scale energy storage systems.”