Akasol
{{Short description|German EV battery manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Akasol AG
| logo = Akasol-Logo.svg
| type = {{lang|de|Aktiengesellschaft}}
| location = Darmstadt, Germany
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2008}}
| key_people = Sven Schulz (CEO), Carsten Bovenschen (CFO)
| num_employees = 284 (as of 2019)
| products = lithium-ion cells for vehicles and renewable energy systems
| parent =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| homepage = [https://www.akasol.com/en/ akasol.com]
}}
Akasol AG is a German manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles. Akasol was founded in 2008. Its headquarters and main manufacturing site are located in Darmstadt. A manufacturing site in Detroit was opened in 2019. In 2021, the company was acquired by the American automotive supplier BorgWarner.{{Cite web |last=Vinoski |first=Jim |title=Primed For Growth, German Battery Maker Akasol AG Is Coming To America |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2019/04/12/primed-for-growth-german-battery-maker-akasol-ag-is-coming-to-america/ |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
History
The Company emerged from a solar technology team founded in 1989 at the Darmstadt University of Technology's Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. The student team developed a number of solar and battery driven cars, aiming at low energy consumption.{{Cite web |title=Neue Gigafactory: Deutscher Batterie-Spezialist Akasol: "Mehr Erfahrung als Nikola, Tesla und Hyzon zusammen" |url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/mittelstand/familienunternehmer/neue-gigafactory-deutscher-batterie-spezialist-akasol-mehr-erfahrung-als-nikola-tesla-und-hyzon-zusammen/26590564.html |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=www.handelsblatt.com |language=de}}
In 2008, members of the team founded the Akasol Engineering GmbH, a for-profit company for developing Lithium-ion batteries and an electric car suitable for everyday use. The name was changed to Akasol GmbH in 2012.{{Citation |title=20. C. Die Bekanntmachungen |date=1898-12-31 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783112515761-020 |work=Die Folgen der falschen Eintragungen in das Handelsregister |pages=56–57 |publisher=De Gruyter |access-date=2022-11-16}}
In June 2018 the company went public as Akasol AG. Starting from June 2021, BorgWarner took over a majority of Akasol.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-04 |title=BorgWarner finalizes takeover of battery systems maker Akasol |url=https://www.autonews.com/suppliers/borgwarner-finalizes-takeover-battery-systems-maker-akasol |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Automotive News |language=en}}
In August 2021, a factory with 15,000 m², called "Gigafactory 1" went operational in Darmstadt. Production capacity is up to 1 GWh during the first stage, and by 2022 is planned to increase to 2.5 GWh.{{Cite web |title=Gigafactory eröffnet - omnibus.news |url=https://omnibus.news/gigafactory-eroeffnet |access-date=2022-11-08 |language=de-DE}}