Hybrid Technologies

April 14, 2009

Michigan Awards $400 Million in Tax Credits for Advanced Battery Production

The battery wars heated up again today as Michigan awarded four $100-million tax credit packages to a quartet of advanced battery projects that could lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs in the economically distressed state. One of the $100-million tax credit packages is contingent upon state legislators passing enabling legislation.

The credits awarded by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority are part of the state's bid to build an advanced battery industry that, by 2020, would lead to the creation of 40,000 new jobs.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the winners will spend a cumulative $1.7 billion on their proposed projects.

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GM engineers work on a Volt battery pack.

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The winners of $100-million tax credit packages are:

A joint venture between Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Johnson Controls and French battery manufacturer Saft Advanced Power Solutions. The companies plan to build a plant in Holland, Michigan.

A123 Systems Inc. of Watertown, Massachusetts, which on Monday said it had drawn another $70 million in capital from General Electric, plans to build a plant in Livonia. Last week, A123 announced that it would supply batteries for Chrysler LLC's upcoming line of electric vehicles.

KD Advanced Battery Group, which is a joint venture between Dow Chemical, Kokam America and Townsend Ventures, has yet to say where it would build its planned facility.

Korea's LG Chem-Compact Power, which has a contract to provide batteries for General Motors Corp.'s Volt, was awarded a $100-million tax credit package that is contingent upon additional state legislation being passed.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Greg Johnson April 14, 2009, 9:54 AM
Categories:: Batteries, Chrysler, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Hybrid Technologies, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
Technorati Tags:: Battery Research

April 8, 2009

Argonne National Laboratory Joins Kentucky Universities in Battery R&D Center

It would take a heck of a lot of advanced-technology batteries for President Obama to fulfill his campaign promise to put a million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015.

Unfortunately, unless the competitive picture changes dramatically, most of those cars would be powered by batteries produced in Asian countries that now dominate the advanced battery manufacturing sector.

With that hard economic reality in mind, Argonne National Laboratory is teaming up with two Kentucky universities to establish a national research and development center that will be charged with transforming the U.S. into a viable contender when it comes to manufacturing tomorrow's high-tech batteries.

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Prius test vehicles at Argonne National Laboratory

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The center that will be located in central Kentucky will be supported by the University of Kentucky and Louisville University. Its not-so-modest goal, as summed up on Wednesday morning by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear: ramp up domestic production capacity and turn the U.S. into "the hands-down global leader of these technologies."

The center is supposed to make it easier for federal laboratories, university researchers, manufacturers, suppliers and end-users to collaborate on technologies that can be commercialized.

Many experts believe that advanced battery design and manufacturing could become as strategically important to the global economy as oil is today. But the U.S. has reduced itself to a bit player when it comes to manufacturing increasingly high-tech batteries that will be needed to reduce global dependence on oil and cut tailpipe emissions.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); Greg Johnson April 8, 2009, 12:22 PM
Categories:: Batteries, China, China, Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Hybrid Technologies, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
Technorati Tags:: Argonne National Laboratory

November 4, 2008

Sam's Club, Hybrid Technologies Team Up To Offer $100,000 Electric Sports Car

Here's something you don't see every day: An ad in a Sam's Club catalog offering a $100,000 zero-emissions electric sports car.

The vehicle, made by Hybrid Technologies, is a prototype that is expected to premiere at the L.A. auto show later this month, according to the catalog. "The vehicle itself will be available in mid-2009."

The plug-in battery-electric car isn't for everyone, or even for more than one. According to the fine print, the purchaser must be a Sam's Club member, and the first member to complete the $100,000 purchase online will own the vehicle.

In other words, only one car is for sale and you've got to have a quick trigger finger (assuming there's more than one member trying to buy the car).

The buyer, according to the ad, will "own the first car off the production line." It has a top speed of 150 miles per hour, can reach 60 mph from a standstill in five seconds, and has a driving range of up to 200 miles between charges.

But wait, there's more. If you buy this car you'll also get travel for two to receive the car in Los Angeles, with travel accommodations to include first-class airline tickets and one room at a luxury hotel, plus the opportunity to drive the car on a racetrack free of charge.

"After your racetrack experience, Hybrid Technologies will ship the car to your residence" at no cost to you, provided your residence is within the contiguous United States, so says the ad.

The car will be available for purchase on Nov. 12. Good luck!