Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowEnerDel, an Indianapolis-based producer of automotive lithium-ion batteries, will receive $118.5 million in a matching grant
from the federal government.
President Obama is in Elkhart today to announce $2.4 billion in taxpayer-funded grants
to create electric cars and, possibly, thousands of jobs.
Indiana was a big winner, with seven parties receiving stimulus
funds. Only Michigan had more recipients.
Besides EnerDel, grants will go to Kokomo-based Delphi Automotive Systems
LLC ($89.3 million), Indianapolis-based Allison Transmission ($62.8 million), Anderson-based Remy Inc. ($60.2 million) and
Purdue University ($6.1 million).
Grants going to companies in other states could also help Indiana employers. Michigan-based
Magna E-Car Systems of America Inc., which has a manufacturing plant in Muncie, got $40 million, and Illinois-based Navistar
Inc., which has a plant in Elkhart County, received $39.2 million.
Those receiving awards need to match the amount
of the federal grant. EnerDel, for instance, will have to raise $118.5 million.
“It’s really exciting that the administration
is focusing on this today; it’s really exciting for us,” an EnerDel spokeswoman said as the awards were being revealed late
this morning.
EnerDel also is in the running for as much as $480 million in financing under a U.S. Department of Energy
program aimed at fostering advanced vehicle manufacturing. The growth plan laid out in the application calls for boosting
employment from 150 now to 3,000 within five years.
EnerDel is among a growing number of companies pinning their hopes
on the production of automotive lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter and more powerful than the nickel-metalhydride batteries
used in the Toyota Prius and other hybrids now on the market.
Of the federal grants announced today, $1.5 billion
will go to the production of batteries and their components; $500 million will go for other components needed for the cars,
like electric motors; and $400 million will go toward plug-in hybrid cars, training for technicians and related costs.
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