COLUMBUS, Ohio — Over the next year and a half, a 25,000 square foot facility in The Ohio State University's innovation district will become the new Battery Cell Research and Development Center.
The space will be used to develop the car batteries of the future. On Monday morning, Ohio State, Honda and other partners announced the creation of the new center.
"This is first-in-class, first in the world type R&D happening right here in the state of Ohio," Acting President of the university Peter Mohler said.
The center will also develop the workforce the auto industry will need.
"When you produce the innovation here, when you produce the talent here, that attracts private investment which creates the jobs of the future, which is what we want for Ohio to be," Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.
When American Honda announced its massive battery plant project that will employ 2,200 people in Jeffersonville, Executive Vice President Bob Nelson said the company also named Ohio as the company's hub.
"So, this is a very good location for us to be able to do this demonstration and research," Nelson said.
And it will be a good location to draw from the talent pool. The partnership said they have $22 million in commitments for the project, including $15 million from Honda.
"Since this technology is still emerging, we want this to be a talent hotspot," Nelson said.
Battery Cell Research and Development Center Acting Director Jay Sayre said when the center is running at full speed, hundreds of students will learn there.
"It's great time to be in Ohio as we see this shift to electrification."
A shift with the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.
"The battery plays a big role as part of the technology for that," Honda's Nelson said.
The new center is set to open in April 2025. The new Honda battery plant in Jeffersonville is scheduled to start production in the fall of 2025.