Forsee Power in North America: new headquarters and gigafactory in Ohio
Jay Deis has been appointed President at Forsee Power North America. He will establish the North American organization, manufacturing operations and product expertise required to serve the North American market.
Forsee Power is about to establish its new headquarters in North America. Also, the French e-mobility specialist announced the intention to open a gigafactory for battery production in Hilliard, Ohio. Jay Deis has been appointed President at Forsee Power North America. He will establish the North American organization, manufacturing operations and product expertise required to serve the North American market. Jay has extensive international experience in the automotive and commercial vehicle industries having spent 20 years with the French Tier 1 supplier Faurecia while living in the US, France, and Mexico.
Forsee Power: an industrial base in North America
Forsee Power has the goal of developing a local customer base in North America, establishing an industrial base in the United States to target the growing commercial vehicle market, primarily buses, trucks, off-highway vehicles, light urban and utility vehicles and trains.
This “will not only optimize costs and the supply chain – which is beginning to take hold on the continent – but it is also a requirement for certain key markets such as the city bus market, which requires a local presence to comply with the FAST Act (70% of value must be produced locally in public procurement)“, Forsee Power highlights.
Why Hilliard, Ohio
Forsee Power has selected Hilliard, Ohio, located in the Columbus Region, to establish its North American headquarters and Gigafactory. The site, located at 4555 Lyman Drive in Hilliard, Ohio in the Columbus Region is 138,000 square feet (13,000 square meters) and will host corporate office, manufacturing operations and R&D capabilities. It is a scalable site, strategically located to attract operators and as well engineers in a fast-growing neighborhood.
Forsee Power’s aim is to achieve production capacity of 3 GWh in the United States by 2027,which it estimates would involve investments of more than EUR 13 million over the period, adapting its product offer to the local market, building production lines, and recruiting a local team of 150 employees.
“We found Columbus to have the right ecosystem of potential supply chain partners, academic partners, and the right fit for workforce as we are looking at hiring production operators, R&D engineers and a full leadership team to run our North American activity.” explains Christophe Gurtner, Chairman & CEO of Forsee Power. “The US administration has designed a very ambitious roadmap toward decarbonation. There are tremendous opportunities to grow on our target market segments: our field-proven experience, our ability to scale up industrial capabilities and to innovate zero-emission solutions for electric vehicle manufacturers will be key assets to rapidly position as a leader in North America”.