The U.S. arm of Alevo, the cash-strapped Swiss battery maker with a high-profile Russian investor, said on Friday that it was filing for chapter 11 protection, the Charlotte Observer reported on Saturday. The company arrived in Cabarrus County, N.C., in 2014 with great fanfare, vowing to create hundreds of jobs through its revolutionary energy-storage technology. But production and hiring lagged those projections. The company gained attention this spring when a Russian billionaire with a connection to President Donald Trump emerged as a new investor and installed former associates at the company. In a statement, Alevo said it had made progress with its “groundbreaking battery technology,” but production challenges left it short on financing. It had been actively seeking new funding, but it wasn’t realized in time. The company planned to lay off 245 employees on Friday, followed by the remaining 45 by Sept. 30, according to a notice filed with the state. The company plans to immediately sell off assets, the filing said.
