U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited Michigan on Monday to support the state's development of electric car batteries and the growth of clean-energy jobs.
The Obama administration is supporting the development of electric vehicle batteries and components through the Recovery Act, which has provided about $2 billion in grants to advanced battery manufacturing.
A123 Systems, which makes lithium-ion batteries for the transportation, electric grid and commercial markets, received a $249 million grant to open its Livonia and Romulus electric vehicle battery plants.
During Monday's visit, officials noted that A123 Systems recently hired its 1,000th Michigan worker.
"A123's success is a great example of how we are working with industries to create jobs, strengthen our manufacturing industry and help our auto companies to keep in the global market," Chu said.
The plants are capable of producing batteries for about 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles a year. The company hopes to create about 15 percent of the world's lithium-ion batteries used for transportation by 2015, said Jason Forcier, vice president of its Automotive Solutions Group.
Before the Recovery Act was passed in 2009, the United States made only 2 percent of the world's advanced batteries. Chu said the country should be capable of creating about 500,000 electric vehicle batteries a year by 2015.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110719/AUTO01/107190343/U.S.-Energy-Secretary-Chu-tours-A123-Systems’-Michigan-battery-plant#ixzz1SaWgkaY3
