Mass High Tech reports that General Electric is dipping a toe in the electric car business, investing $4m in electric car maker Th!nk and another $20m in A123 Systems, the MassiveTaxes-based battery company. The announcement comes as the formerly Ford-owned Norwegian EV manufacturer unveils its new Ox crossover in Geneva. GE says it plans on opening a new research center in upstate New York, where it will work with A123 to develop high-capacity, lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid cars. Last year, A123 received a $15m contract for next-generation vehicle batteries from the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (Chrysler, GM and Ford) and a contract to supply batteries for the Saturn Vue Green Line plug-in program. It's good to see investment in homegrown battery development that's a little more sophisticated than just strapping a bunch of laptop batteries together.
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The future of energy is definitely in Massachusetts. We have a great state. Glad to see GE investing in us.
Of course this and other vehicles like it will be showered with tax incentives to build, buy and drive. I’d be more impressed with something the government didn’t have to subsidize, but then these types of vehicles are not nearly as economical to make as a regular economy car that runs on fossil fuel.