July 15, 2026 1:34 PM, EDT
Ground was broken on the Mississippi site in May 2024, and construction on the 2.6 million-square-foot battery factory in Byhalia began two months later. (Daimler Truck AG)
Key Takeaways:
Amplify Cell Technologies expects construction of its Mississippi battery cell factory to finish by late 2026, but production remains delayed pending stronger market demand.The $2 billion-$3 billion project has faced repeated delays as North American battery-electric and fuel cell truck demand weakened, prompting a $235 million impairment charge.Engineers will continue refining battery chemistry and manufacturing technology while Daimler Truck awaits demand before deciding when to begin production.
Construction of Amplify Cell Technologies’ planned battery cell production facility in Mississippi is set to be completed by the end of 2026 at the latest, according to a key executive at one of the joint venture’s shareholders.
However, the start of production at the site remains up in the air, said Daimler Truck North America CEO John O’Leary.
“The plant is being finished out. It’s not going to operate when it’s finished out, not right away. We have to wait for … demand to come back into the marketplace before we do that,” O’Leary told Transport Topics.
Freightliner and Western Star parent company Daimler Truck is one of three stakeholders alongside Kenworth and Peterbilt owner Paccar and Cummins’ Accelera division.
Demand for battery-electric tractors failed to meet expectations over the past couple of years while legacy truck manufacturers pushed back hydrogen fuel cell electric truck plans, and startups including Nikola floundered.
Construction on the 2.6 million-square-foot battery factory in Byhalia, Miss., began in July 2024.
O’Leary speaks with Transport Topics reporters July 9 in Washington. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
Production at the plant — intended to meet the needs of existing and forthcoming battery and hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks — had initially been scheduled to begin in 2027.
Weaker-than-expected conditions in the battery and fuel cell electric commercial vehicle market in North America led the partners to defer installation of manufacturing capacity, Daimler Truck CEO Karin Radstrom said May 6.
Daimler Truck will take a 200 million-euro, or $235 million, impairment charge as a result of delays to the project.
The plant is expected to cost $2 billion to $3 billion to build. The project’s scheduled start of production had already been pushed back once, with Paccar revealing in October 2025 that manufacturing would begin in 2028.
But some work on the project will continue even when the building is complete.
A team of roughly 30 people — primarily engineers — will continue to work on battery chemistry and battery manufacturing technology among other things, O’Leary said, so that “when we do turn it back on, that we’re not trying to solve 2028 problems with 2025 thoughts.”
“We definitely still believe in the technology. We still believe in the strategy,” the executive said.
Five-pronged powertrain approach
Battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks are two of Daimler Truck’s five powertrain technology approaches, alongside diesel, hydrogen and natural gas-powered internal combustion engines.
In late June, Daimler Truck revealed it was teaming up with German developer Keyou to begin offering tractors with hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines as early as 2027, although the initial focus will be on European markets.
Daimler Truck said it believes trucks with hydrogen ICE powertrains are robust and have lower system complexity compared with fuel cells, making them particularly suited for applications with high payload requirements.
In comparison, the truck maker sees fuel cell technology offering advantages in demanding longhaul operations, noting ranges of more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) are possible with minimal and speedy fueling.
The Mercedes-Benz NextGenH2 tractor will be the key to the fuel cell leg of the engine technology strategy at the world’s largest truck maker. Series production of the fuel cell trucks is targeted for the early 2030s, Daimler Truck said.
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While Daimler Truck is focusing initial hydrogen ICE and hydrogen fuel cell initiatives on Europe, the focus in North America has been on natural gas-powered ICE engines.
DTNA will offer Freightliner and Western Star customers the choice of six Cummins engines for model-year 2027 trucks, including the L9N and X15N natural gas engines.
Freightliner opened its order book for fifth-generation Cascadia tractors powered by X15N engines in the spring of 2025, boosting renewable natural gas options for carriers.