Maxwell Technologies Inc. is an American developer and manufacturer headquartered in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. The company focuses on developing and manufacturing

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an Accumulator (energy), accumulator or Batte ...

and power delivery products for automotive, heavy transportation, renewable energy, backup power, wireless communications and industrial and consumer electronics applications.

History

The company was founded in 1965 as Maxwell Laboratories Inc. by Raymond C. O'Rourke, Alan Kolb, Bruce Hayworth, and Terrence C. Gooding in

, California. Maxwell Laboratories was originally a government contractor, providing advanced physics, pulsed power, space effects analysis and other research and development services to the U.S. military and other government agencies. The company began converting its focus to commercial applications for its technologies and products in the early 1990s, and by 2014, generated all of its revenue from commercial sources. In 1996, Maxwell Laboratories, Inc. changed its name to Maxwell Technologies, Inc. Maxwell Energy Products, a division that included the Maxwell High Voltage Capacitor product line, was acquired in March 2000 by

General Atomics General Atomics (GA) is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, that specializes in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion en ...

, eventually merging into General Atomics Electronic Systems, Inc. in 2003. In 2007, Maxwell Technologies won contract from

Astrium Satellites Astrium was a European aerospace company and subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), headquartered in Paris. It designed, developed and manufactured civil and military space systems and provided related services ...

to supply computers for

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

’s ‘

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

’ Astronomy mission. Maxwell supplied seven Maxwell SCS750 SBCs to process images and data gathered by the satellite's camera. In November 2013, Maxwell Technologies opened a manufacturing facility in

Peoria, Arizona Peoria ( ) is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the U.S. state of Arizona. Most of the city is located in Maricopa County, while a portion of it in the north is in Yavapai County. It is a major suburb of Phoenix. As of the 2020 cens ...

. In December 2013, Maxwell Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SK Innovation to develop the next generation of electrical energy storage with Maxwell's ultracapacitors and SK's

lithium-ion batteries A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy ...

. In April 2016, Maxwell completed the sale of its microelectronics product line to Data Device Corporation. In April 2017, Maxwell Technologies acquired all assets, "core business and operating entities" of Nesscap Energy Inc. for $23.175 million. In February 2019, electric vehicle and clean energy company

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from h ...

announced that it planned to acquire Maxwell Technologies. The deal closed on May 15, 2019, for . In July 2021, Tesla sold Maxwell Technologies branding and ultracapacitor business to a San Diego–based startup called Ucap Power, led by the former vice-president of sales for Maxwell, Gordon Schenk.

References

{{Authority control Technology companies of the United States Capacitor manufacturers Technology companies established in 1965 1965 establishments in California Manufacturing companies based in San Diego Tesla, Inc. 2019 mergers and acquisitions 2021 mergers and acquisitions