It’s ALWAYS Christmas in D.C.! Indiana democrat Senator Evan Bayh would like to say hello to the New Year with $1.63b worth of grants to American automotive battery makers. “For a fraction of what the federal government has spent to bail out Wall Street, we can create the next generation of high-mileage vehicles,” Bayh pronounced, neglecting to mention the $38.4b the feds have allocated to the domestic auto industry as of late– which doesn’t include the tens of billions headed to the newly-created GMAC bank. Local angle? You betcha! “Indiana can lead the way with cutting-edge technology being made right here within our borders,” Senator Bayh’s statement said. “Our state can help America move past Band-Aid solutions and help ensure the long-term viability of the domestic automobile industry.” That’s kind of low-key– given the level of PC bluster surrounding the incoming adminstration’s push for “green jobs.” Take two…
“It is a critical time for our country to make a serious push for electric transportation technologies as part of a comprehensive solution to decreasing our dependence on imported oil,” Bayh and his colleagues wrote [in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitchell McConnell]. “These programs and the new technologies deployed as a result of these programs will also stimulate the economy and help build a globally competitive advanced technology vehicle workforce in the United States.”
Sounds like a boondoggle plan to me! Now how much rhetoric do federal teat suckers need? Well don’t answer! Autobloggreen (from whom we snagged this link) repeats the Senator’s closing argument.
“Investments in battery and grid technology and manufacturing are critical to ensure that plug-in vehicles are economically viable as well as making sure that America doesn’t trade foreign oil dependency for foreign battery dependency. Currently, the majority of batteries for electric and plug-in vehicles are being sourced from overseas, mainly Japan.”
Evan Bayh sounds quite like Michigan’s very own Jennifer Granholm. I can’t blame him because I am sure he means well for Indiana. However, any company is going to locate to a state that offers major financial incentives (Tennessee, Alabama) OR will move to a state with massive amounts of engineering resources. The two leaders for automotive battery technologies are Michigan and California. However, I highly doubt Michigan and California can give any major amount of incentives to a company looking to set up shop.
It is one thing to have major local universities working on battery technologies. It is a whole nother ballgame to have suppliers and readily trained engineers readily available in the local job market.
Yes, I agree with Robert.
“Indiana can lead the way with cutting-edge technology being made right here within our borders,”
If they are going to lead the way, why don’t they do it with their own money and leave the residents of the other 49 states out of it.
In my opinion, all the talk about “battery research” is just green washing or fodder for Pork Projects. We’ve heard it for years and yet we are still a slave to the pump and indirectly to hostile countries that sell us crude oil. As I posted in a different article, batteries ALREADY EXIST (and have existed for 10 years) that are a nice fit into an EV: Large Format NiMH and now new lithium LiFePO4 cells. The NiMH battery, proved in the Toyoya RAV4 EV and the last GM EV1 models, is now held captive by a patent by an oil company (after GM sold the technology when they crushed the EV1s), but the LiFePO4 Large Format cell is now maturing in China as they are entering mass production. I think this is the best hope for EVs.
The NiMH cell is 95 AH and the LiFePO4 cell can be as large in capacity as 200 AH. The 200 AH Lithium cell can be purchased right now, but it costs $400 and about 100 of them are required to build a EV battery pack. Still, no research is needed, just mass production and consequential lowering of cost. Note that the LiFePO4 Lithium chemistry is very safe as opposed to the previous types that caught fire in laptops. The liFePO4 is so safe that a nail can be driven into the battery and it won’t catch fire.
What about the cost of replacing a worn-out EV battery pack (a concern to most people). The NiMH batteries in the Toyota Rav4 EV are reported to still be operating without degradation after about 10 years and more than 100,000 miles on the vehicle. These batteries are now thought to be able to last the lifetime of the vehicle. The new LiFePO4 battery chemistry is supposed to have even more cycle life than a NiMH battery, but only time will tell.
If our political leaders were truly serious about the production of a suitable EV battery, then they would have forced the release of the Large Format NiMH patent, at the very least, in the interests of national security. Ironically, China, a nation whose manufacturing base has been feared as of late, may be the solution to our EV battery “research” problem by mass producing the 200 AH Lithium battery. With this battery, that can already be purchased from EV web stores (though presently at a high cost), watch for American Hobbyists (like engineers or ham radio operator types) to do EV conversions on old junker cars followed by small companies doing new build or conversion of vehicles. I think that if enough of the “Joe Public” sees these EV conversion vehicles being driven, general demand for an EV will increase.
One final thought on EVs: They are not suitable for all applications. Emergency vehicles, trucking, and some high mileage users such as traveling salespeople, etc., will still need gasoline vehicles. Still, if enough people drive EVs, then fuel costs will remain low for users who can’t use an EV. This effect has just happened: When a small percentage of us recently began to drive less, and thus use less gas, then $4.50 gas dropped to less than $2.
Once again, where is the biz plan that is such an obvious winner yet can’t get investors?
The NiMh battery issue was resolved in 2004: http://www.ovonic.com/PDFs/Financial_Reports/form_8k/8k_mbi_patent_infringe_settlement_7july04.pdf
June 30 2010 is the end date of Ovionic patent control. $20 million settlement with $8 million to Chevron isn’t exactly captive oil company control. Indiana doesn’t have much of a track record on Green with a stumbling barely alive ethanol inititative. Turned out that costs to gas station owners was substantial to install E85 tanks and pumps. Then there is the consumer issue of vehicles to use E85 and lousy mpg.