Electric vehicle manufacturer, Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:), announced today that the company plans to begin EV battery pack production out of its high voltage battery R&D facility located in Monrovia, California. It plans to renovate the building to allow for production.

“Building our own battery packs makes sense as it reduces our reliance on third-party suppliers and lessens our risk of being subjected to the waves of supply and critical component shortages,” says David Michery, CEO and chairman of Mullen Automotive. “The entire industry is struggling with supply chain issues and the more control we have in-house, the better off our vehicle programs will be. Our Monrovia facility is already established for high voltage applications so retrofitting it for our battery pack development makes good sense for our company and shareholders.”

CODA Automotive used the Monrovia facility, CODA Energy, for its battery pack research and development. The Monrovia facility was also used by CODA Automotive to produce the U.S. homologated EV car, which was available in the U.S. between 2012-18. In 2014, Mullen bought the CODA assets and in 2017 took control of the Monrovia high-voltage facility. It was renamed Mullen Energy.

Mullen is aiming to decrease costs and ensure quality in the battery pack design process by bringing battery pack manufacturing in-house.

By Michael Elkins