U.S. may not get left behind in lithium battery manufacturing after all
When GM announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January that it would build a plant to assemble battery packs for the Chevy Volt in southeast Michigan, it was noteworthy that the cells for those packs would still be coming from South Korea. While plenty of research is happening here, as with most other industries, it seemed that all the actual manufacturing was going off shore. The combination of multiple product announcements by American automakers that include lithium batteries and $2 billion in the stimulus bill targeted directly at battery manufacturing (or was it $12 million?) are causing even foreign battery companies to look at manufacturing in the U.S. In spite of recent progress, batteries remain heavy and bulky, so it makes financial sense to build the cells and packs close to where they will be put into vehicles. LG Chem, the company that supplying the Volt cells, is looking into U.S. manufacture and GM is even considering building lithium cells in-house if they can get the right amount of government money for the project. Prabhakar Patil, CEO of Compact Power, Inc. told Wards Auto World the LG Chem subsidiary would only need a commitment of 50,000 plug-in vehicles a year to justify tooling up a U.S. cell plant.
[Source: Wards Auto World]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 5:20PM (3/17/2009)
Foreign manufacturers building plants in the US with US taxpayer money and sending all their profits back to their home countries makes me sick! So what if the US is getting some of the jobs when the profits are going offshore to enrich others. They should be using American companies who are spending their profits in America and using American workers who are spending their wages in America!
US tax payer money should NEVER go offshore, period! Not in bombs, not in bribes and not in offshoring gov't contracts for taxpayer owned goods or services.
Never!
Reply
DasBoese 6:04PM (3/17/2009)
Maybe you should get yourself a copy of "Global Economy for Dummies".
Tim 6:45PM (3/17/2009)
The "global economy" IS for dummies and those foolish enough to believe that Socialism/Corporatism is good for humanity and not just for those elitists currently in power.
The "global economy" is corporate socialism by the elitist and for the elitist and YOU, my dear DasBoese are NOT one of them! You're just one of the suckers!!!
polo 4:34PM (3/18/2009)
Foreign companies building plants here in the US is not really a good example of globalism. Its almost the polar opposite of what globalism known for,
First off, the plants support US jobs which support their local communities. If they were building the plants in Mexico or Korea and US automakers were **outsourcing** the batteries, then that would be an example of globalism. Foreign companies coming here to create what will be high-paying jobs is...again...not something globalism is known for.
DasBoese 1:02AM (3/18/2009)
Sooo, if the money goes only to the "elite" anyway, what do you care if it's your elite or someone else's? After all... You're just one of the suckers.
Tim 7:47AM (3/18/2009)
Yes, I'm just one of the peons too, but I’m no sucker! THAT'S why I want as much of the money to go into OUR economy as possible especially since the "stimulus" & "bailouts" & off the books direct Fed payments to banks which were not voted on by congress are costing us $Trillions in debt financing. If WE pay for it, then WE should receive it back into OUR economy!
You sound like you would approve of GM using taxpayer bailout money to build a car plant in China. Is that your idea of a “global economy”?
SteveCT 7:07PM (3/17/2009)
Tim, just because a company is based in a foreign country doesn't mean all the profits go overseas when they manufacture stuff in America. First of all, any Americans who own stock in that company will get a share of those profits, and secondly, that company will probably reinvest a lot of its profits into further manufacturing capability here in the US.
Admittedly, though, a lot of the profits *will* end up overseas, so it's better if the money goes to American battery companies.
Reply
Tim 7:55AM (3/18/2009)
SteveCT
Strike the words "a lot" from your last sentence and replace them with MOST and you're on track.
If MOST of the profits are going to offshore companies, why should the politicians FORCE we taxpayers to build their plant for them? Why should WE help THEM buy America? If it makes economic sense, they should build their own damn plant with their own damn money.
jpm 8:01PM (3/17/2009)
Is this Bob's funeral?
Reply
posterboy 2:02AM (3/18/2009)
Hey Tim!
What happened? I thought you believed in free trade, capitalism, libertarianism and the free market... It sounds like you want the US government to pass a law restricting foreign companies from opening manufacturing plants in the US. Wouldn't that be statism? Jobs created in the US are a good thing. Besides the true "owners" of the corporation are the stockholders, so if you are afraid that someone else is taking your piece of the economic pie, you could always invest your money into a foreign company, and reap the gains of any successful decision that they make. We certainly don't need laws against foreign ownership of manufacturing plants... thats what are "friend" Hugo Chavez is doing "nationalizing" US manufacturers and oil producers, and thats a bad road to start going down. The next stage is the government takeover of domestic companies, and then we end up with true socialism/fascism (ie statism). If you object to the subsidy itself, then object to merely that... it doesn't matter whether the subsidy goes to a US company or a foreign one.
Reply
lee 2:47AM (3/18/2009)
So called "American" companies like Boston Power, A123, Johnson Controls all have their manufacturing facilities in foreign countries. So what's your definition of an "American" company?
Reply
Tim 7:50AM (3/18/2009)
posterboy
I'm happy when foreign manufacturers build plants in the US. I'm just not happy when they want to use OUR tax money to build them.
Reply
mikearama 4:59PM (4/24/2009)
No matter where you make the batteries, the vital INGREDIENTS will still come from CONGO, BOLIVIA and/or CHINA. Making the batteries in the US doesn't make us much better off.
Our national interests are still teetering in far off places...
@mikearama
http://www.thelastsocialist.wordpress.com
Reply