Caterpillar Inc., which relocated its headquarters to DFW last year, is investing in the battery technology company Lithos Energy based in San Rafael, California.
Lithos Energy makes lithium batteries for marine and off-road use. Caterpillar’s investment is seen as a move toward fully electric and hybrid machines, reported The Dallas Morning News.
“Cat equipment — regardless of its power source — is designed to operate in the most demanding conditions,” Joe Creed, Caterpillar’s energy and transportation group president, said in a statement. “Lithos’ experience manufacturing battery packs for similarly demanding environments will be an asset as we continue our electrified product development.”
Details about the deal were not disclosed by the company.
Caterpillar, based in Irving, recently moved to the metroplex from Deerfield, Illinois, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
“We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world,” Jim Umpleby, chairman and CEO, said in a June press release.
In October, the company highlighted a display of electric battery-powered vehicles in Germany. The four machines are powered by battery-operated prototypes and onboard AC chargers.
“Our electrified products leverage our deep system integration experience and are designed to meet the performance expectations that customers have come to expect from Caterpillar,” Creed said in a press release.
“We’re focused on helping our customers achieve the optimal product and job site energy lifecycle, allowing them to maximize value and minimize their total cost of operation.”
Caterpillar said that increased automation helps lower costs and is known in the mining industry as a way to make machines safer to use.
Lithos Energy CEO James Meredith said Caterpillar’s investment in the company will help it increase the scale of its manufacturing and speed up the process of developing technology “as we look forward to providing increasingly advanced product offerings to our new and existing customers.”
