Dr. Raj Das Gupta

Electrovaya Inc. now has plans to open its Ellicott Gigafactory in April.

Company officials announced in January that the company had wanted to open its newest factory sometime in the second quarter of 2025, which would have meant anywhere from April through June. But earlier than anticipated availability of equipment is allowing the company to move more quickly while the potential for new U.S. tariffs is pushing Electrovaya to move fast. There are also state tax benefits that the earlier production start will allow Electrovaya to begin claiming sooner, according to John Gibson, Electrovaya chief financial officer.

“Further on that point, we decided to accelerate our plans for battery system assembly operations at the Jamestown facility. Similar assembly equipment that is currently used at our existing Ontario facility has been procured, some of which is already installed and hiring key personnel is well underway. I anticipate being able to commence commercial operations by April 2025,” said Dr. Raj DasGupta, Electrovya’s CEO, during a conference call with investor analysts this week. “However, we have the capability to further accelerate this if necessary. The start of assembly in Jamestown will help support ramp up in overall production, while also supporting the company’s mitigation strategy with respect to potential trade barriers.”

Electrovaya officials announced first quarter revenue of $11.2 million for the first quarter of 2025, a decrease from $12.1 million in the first quarter of 2024. Company officials report positive working capital of $12.6 million for the first quarter of 2025 compared to negative working capital of $400,000 in the first quarter of 2024 while cash on hand is also higher at the end of the first quarter this year than last year ($8.2 million compared to $600,000.

Electrovaya has also paid off all debts associated with its property in Ellicott including the existing mortgage and promissory notes. The company is finalizing loan documentation with the Export-Import bank and another bank for financing packages to support the Jamestown expansion. That work is expected to be finished by June.

DasGupta said the plan remains to begin battery system assembly in Ellicott in April with battery cell production starting in mid-2026. Battery cell production is more capital intensive than battery system assembly. Hiring has begun at the local facility and, as the team is hired, training will begin. DasGupta said a lot of equipment has already been installed in the Ellicott facility. While Lee Gilmore, plant manager, is familiar with battery system assembly he has to train workers. DasGupta said that training will include travel between Ontario and Ellicott.

“On the business side, we’re trying to build up a team in Jamestown who will ultimately be building battery packs, battery modules and battery cells,” DasGupta said. “So the sooner that team gets familiar with making battery systems, the better. So we’re taking this as a good opportunity to get that started and in place. The second reason is capacity. We’re seeing growth in demand and it makes sense instead of having another shift in Mississauga, start a first shift in Jamestown. So overall it’s a no brainer. You get out of your comfort zone a little bit. You got to train a new team and add in more equipment, but something we would do anyway.”

DasGupta and Gibson said company officials are projecting strong growth into 2025 with estimated revenues to exceed $60 million driven by renewed demand from the company’s largest end users of material handling batteries. The revenue projections consider existing purchase orders, along with anticipated orders in the company’s pipeline.

President Donald Trump had directed 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, with another 10% tariff on Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity. Those tariffs have been paused, but DasGupta said having a North American-based supply chain will help mitigate tariffs’ impact on Electrovaya while also opening the company up to potential new customers.

“To your second point, most definitely that domestic manufacturing and our exciting technology as well is bringing in interest from parties who are specifically looking for that,” DasGupta said in response to an analyst’s question. “So just last week, we got approached by another large defense contractor and that’s an opportunity that we were not expecting. So these are the types of things that we could see more of, especially after things start moving more substantially in Jamestown.”