Support Builds for Hybrid, EV Battery Funding in U.S. Economic Stimulus Plan
By John O'Dell January 7, 2009
All that lobbying last year about the need to develop U.S. battery production capacity for advanced vehicles may have paid off.
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A rack of lithium-ion batteries being tested at Argonne National Laboratory.
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The Detroit News is reporting that congressional Democrats have been talking to President-elect Barack Obama's team about funding battery research and development in the economic stimulus bill being prepared for adoption by the new Congress shortly after Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20.
"I'd be very surprised if there is not serious money for batteries in the stimulus bill," Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, told the newspaper.
"If we're going to put all this money into battery development, it's important to me and I think my colleagues that we build those batteries right here in America."
Most of the world's lithium is located in South America and most lithium-ion battery production is being done in China.
Proponents of a healthy electric vehicle industry in the U.S. have questioned the wisdom of developing vehicles that can help free the country form its dependence on foreign oil only to replace it with dependence on foreign-made batteries.
The Detroit paper reports that Michigan's congressional delegation, led by the House's senior member, Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, met Monday and agreed to push for at least $1 billion in battery research funds.
The money could be used for direct grants for research or for loans or other funding to support development and operation of battery manufacturing operations.
Another option being considered, the paper reports, is a doubling of the $25 billion Advanced Vehicle Technology loan program already established to provide federally backed loans that auto and auto parts makers would use to retool factories to build more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
Obama said during his campaign that he favored doubling the money in the loan program.
So far, according to the Detroit News' report, more than 70 companies have applied for funds from the retooling loan program, with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler collectively asking for almost $22 billion, or 88 percent of the total.
Other applicants include a consortium of 14 U.S. technology companies, incuding several battery development firms, have applied for about $1 billion to build a plant to produce advanced batteries in the U.S.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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