Sparkz, a Sacramento-based battery maker betting big on American manufacturing, pulled back the curtain Wednesday on its new U.S.-built lithium battery system, the SparkzCore22, at its Metro Air Park factory. Executives pitched the hardware as a compact, scalable power bank for homes and businesses that can also be clustered to support power-hungry data centers and ease strain on the electric grid. The debut doubled as the finale of a media tour during Sacramento Climate Week, putting the company’s onshoring message squarely in the spotlight.
What SparkzCore22 Does
In a press release from Sparkz, the company said the SparkzCore22 "stores 25% more power into the same footprint" and uses lithium iron phosphate cells built from domestically sourced cathode material. The system follows a "BYOB" - bring-your-own-batteries - model that Sparkz says can be scaled into virtual power plants, letting homes or businesses push stored energy back to the grid when needed.
Speaking on KCRA's Ultra segment, CEO Sanjiv Malhotra told reporters the Metro Air Park facility is "the only one that produces from making the materials, to making the cells and the complete battery system," and said he chose Sacramento in part because of ties to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Malhotra argued that distributed energy storage will be crucial as AI-driven data demand grows and said domestically produced LFP systems can serve as a cleaner alternative to gas generators, according to KCRA.
Why Sparkz Picked Sacramento
Sparkz cut the ribbon on its roughly 130,000-square-foot Metro Air Park factory in October 2024 and moved into manufacturing cathode material and cells after a commissioning period, according to the Sacramento Business Journal. Company officials told the outlet they shifted quickly from setup to production while recruiting technicians and operators to staff the plant.
The company markets a proprietary FeCAM LFP cathode and says its supply chain sources lithium, iron and phosphate from within the United States. Documents filed with the California Energy Commission show Sparkz was approved for an EPIC grant to develop advanced battery prototypes, and filings along with coverage from The Sacramento Bee outline the startup’s effort to onshore both materials and cell production.
Jobs and the Workforce
The Metro Air Park facility has created dozens of manufacturing jobs so far, and company officials say the site will expand local training capacity as operations scale up. A state hearing transcript shows Sparkz telling lawmakers it intends to operate as a union shop working with the United Auto Workers and expects the factory to host a battery workforce training center. Local job listings, including technician roles at the site, add more detail about the positions on offer, according to the California Senate and postings on Indeed.
Market Moves and Funding
Sparkz closed a $20.2 million Series A round in February to fund a second U.S. manufacturing facility, the company said in a February announcement. The startup has also reported early commercial traction: its LinkedIn page shared a November 2025 announcement of a master supply agreement that would put up to 200 MWh of Sparkz systems into a national deployment partner’s pipeline, as noted on LinkedIn and in company materials.
For Sacramento, the SparkzCore22 launch functions as both a vote of confidence in the region’s industrial ambitions and a live test of whether domestic battery manufacturing can help relieve local grid pressures. KCRA’s coverage includes video of the demonstration and an interview with Malhotra that walks through potential uses for home backup, virtual power plants and data center resilience, according to KCRA.
