Big investment in next gen batteries, electric vehicles
During a visit to Elkhart, Ind. on Wednesday, President Obama announced $2.4 billion in grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to facilitate the construction and deployment of next generation U.S. batteries and electric vehicles.
The money will fund 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects in 20 states. The Obama administration predicts the investments will create tens of thousands of new jobs.
“If we want to reduce our dependence on oil, put Americans back to work, and reassert our manufacturing sector as one of the greatest in the world, we must produce the advanced, efficient vehicles of the future,” President Obama said from Elkhart, the second visit of his term.
The U.S. Department of Energy, through a highly competitive process, will award the grants in the following manner:
- $1.5 billion in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity
- $500 million in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce electric drive components for vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and other drive train components
- $400 million in grants to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations in several dozen locations; to deploy them and evaluate their performance; to install electric charging infrastructure; and to provide education and workforce training to support the transition to advanced electric transportation systems
As part of his visit, President Obama visited Navistar International Corporation, Inc. in Elkhart, which will receive a $39 million grant to build electric trucks. Indiana will receive a total of $400 million for seven different projects.
Other awards were handed out Wednesday.
- Vice President Biden announced $1 billion in grants to A123, Johnson Controls, Compact Power, Dow Kokam, GM, Chrysler, Ford, the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and the Michigan Technological University.
- Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced $49 million for Celgard in Charlotte, N.C.
- EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced a $95.5 million for Saft America, Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla.
- Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Pocari announced $32.5 million for East Penn Manufacturing Co. in Lyon Station, Penn.
- Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced $10 million for Smith Electric in Kansas City; $30 million to the Ford Motor Company; $73 million to Chrysler; and $5 million to Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Georgia will see some of this money too. Exide Technologies with Axion Power International in Bristol, Tenn. and Columbus, Ga. will receive $32.5 million for the production of the UltraBattery, a lead-acid battery with a carbon supercapacitor combination, for micro and mild hybrid applications.
Click here to see a full list of award recipients.