Imperium Starts Endicott Lithium-Ion Battery Production Work

A major milestone has been reached at the long-awaited Imperium 3 New York lithium-ion battery factory in Endicott.

Imperium 3 New York has announced it is "officially beginning commercial production activities of our USA-made lithium-ion batteries."

Imperium's factory is located on the Huron Campus in Endicott, which is considered to be the "Birthplace of IBM."

iM3NY posted the news in what it described as a "huge announcement" on Twitter Thursday afternoon.

The brief statement said: "We're happy to announce iM3NY is pressing the ON BUTTON and starting commercial cell production activities at the FIRST U.S. owned lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing plant located in Endicott, NY."

Company officials were not immediately available to elaborate on the latest developments in launching the production work.

It's been nearly five years since Governor Andrew Cuomo visited Endicott to announce plans for construction of a $140 million "gigafactory" that would manufacture lithium-ion batteries at the Huron Campus.

Imperium founder Shailesh Upreti initially predicted battery production at the site could start by the end of 2019.

Setting up the factory and hiring workers took longer than Upreti had expected.

Although the company hailed the start of production activities, it has not announced when it expects to begin shipping batteries to customers.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.