AllCell Technologies, LLC, which makes lithium ion bateries for e-bikes and other applications, received a $460,433 grant from the State of Illiinois as part of Governor Pat Quinn’s efforts to retool the Illinois economy to include thousands of green industry businesses and workers through Governor Pat Quinn’s State Energy Plan.
AllCell plans to dramatically increase production capacity for lithium-ion batteries at the company’s manufacturing facility in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. The grant, plus matching funding from Townsend Capital, will also support the installation of a large array of solar panels on the building roof as well as major weatherization and energy efficiency improvements. The projects will create and retain a total of twenty four full-time and part-time jobs.
“We recently transitioned from developing our technology to building and selling commercial battery packs for e-bikes, e-scooters, and smart grid energy storage,” said AllCell co-founder and CEO Said Al-Hallaj. “The state’s support was well-timed. The market response to our products has been incredibly enthusiastic, and this funding will allow us to grow our business much more rapidly than we would have been able to on our own, while simultaneously reducing our energy bills and carbon footprint.”
Dennis Townsend, Chairman of Townsend Ventures added, “Townsend Ventures is a very active investor in the energy storage space and we are excited about this opportunity to work with AllCell’s team and the State of Illinois to commercialize AllCell’s advanced technologies in the Li-ion battery market.”
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) administers a portfolio of programs under the State Energy Plan that are designed to invest in the development of Illinois’ green economy including renewable energy resources, energy efficiency, green buildings, biofuels and more. The money received through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allowed DCEO’s State Energy Office to develop new programs and expand current programs – leveraging private-sector funds – in order to fund cost-effective energy projects that create and retain Illinois jobs, reduce energy consumption and costs, increase renewable energy capacity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The State Energy Plan is providing more than $100 million in grants statewide, resulting in more than 12,000 green sector jobs being created over the next two years and leveraging almost $1 billion in investment.
AllCell Technologies offers customized thermal management solutions and battery packs for high power lithium-ion based systems in applications such as hybrid and electric automotives and light electric vehicles (i.e. electric scooters, electric bikes, and neighborhood electric vehicles). Their patented phase change material (PCM) surrounds each lithium-ion cell to absorb and conduct heat away from the battery, effectively doubling the life of the cells and preventing fire or damage to the battery. The PCM technology spun-out from Illinois Institute of Technology and AllCell developed its products as the first tenant in the state-funded incubator at University Technology Park at IIT. www.allcelltech.com
