Marel Power lands $1.9M Michigan grant to build EV power stacks
What's the deal? Marel Power SolutionsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has been awarded $1.9 million through the Michigan Supplier Conversion Grant Program, administered by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic OpportunityDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The Plymouth-based company is one of 11 automotive suppliers sharing $21 million from the program.
What's the endgame? Marel develops power stacks — the building blocks inside inverters and converters that move energy between AC and DC. Its platform underpins EV traction inverters, battery disconnect units, onboard chargers, and charging infrastructure. The grant funds equipment for a pilot production line in Plymouth, starting with EV applications.
What's the pitch? The company sells a configurable platform rather than a single component, betting that dense packaging and aggressive cooling of power semiconductors is the differentiator. "Marel can deliver the same power in roughly one-quarter of the space at 30% lower cost," said chief executive officer Amrit Vivekanand.
Why now? The state program is backed by the US Department of EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s Domestic Automotive Manufacturing Conversion Grant program, aimed at expanding domestic manufacturing capacity and helping established suppliers adapt to shifting vehicle technology.
The bigger market: The same architecture extends beyond EVs to defence and data centre power systems. Marel frames AI infrastructure as a parallel opportunity, where rising compute demand pushes more power through constrained physical footprints.
"The challenge is no longer simply delivering more power, it is delivering dramatically more power without requiring dramatically more space," Vivekanand said. Shrinking the power electronics footprint, he argued, lets infrastructure providers use space for compute instead of power conversion.
The signal: At $1.9 million, this is a modest, non-dilutive award — but it signals a policy push to reshore power-electronics manufacturing as EVs, data centres, and defence all compete for higher power density in tighter spaces.
Image credit: Marel Power Solutions
