GM battery.

General Motors President and CEO, Fritz Henderson announces the opening of a Brownstown Township lithium-ion battery plant on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009. (Jerry S. Mendoza / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Taxpayers, many of them kicking and screaming, voted with their dollars to bail-out General Motors. The automaker today returned the favor, sort of, by unveiling plans to build a $43 million plant in Michigan to build lithium-ion batteries for its Chevrolet Volt electric-powered car to be sold next year and which gets a company-reported 230 miles per gallon.

GM said in its press release:

It is the first lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. operated by a major automaker, and demonstrates GM's commitment to deliver more fuel-efficient vehicles to consumers.
The plant will provide more than 100 advanced technology jobs and will be part of a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors called GM Subsystem Manufacturing LLC. Local and state incentives, along with Recovery Act funding announced last week by the U.S. Department of Energy, are helping to make the facility possible.

GM is making a virtue of necessity. If it had decided to build the new battery plant in Mexico or elsewhere overseas, it would have brought itself unbelievable controversy.

Meanwhile, GM has an entirely new board selected with the approval of the Obama Administration's auto task force. So it was a Hobson's choice; GM could've placed the new plant anywhere it wanted to, so long as it was in the U.S.

The plant will provide more than 100 advanced technology jobs and will be part of a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors called GM Subsystem Manufacturing LLC. Local and state incentives, along with Recovery Act funding announced last week by the U.S. Department of Energy, are helping to make the facility possible.
The investment includes renovation and lease costs for the 160,000-square-foot landfill-free facility, new machinery and equipment, and special tooling. With the exception of specialized battery machinery and equipment, GM is reusing equipment from other GM facilities. Equipment installation at the Brownstown site is under way and production will start in the fourth quarter of 2010 to support the launch of the Chevrolet Volt.
"Developing and producing advanced batteries is a key step in GM's journey to become the leader in electric vehicles," said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO. "This state-of-the-art battery manufacturing site reinforces our commitment to achieve that goal and to deliver clean, fuel-efficient vehicles to our customers."
Henderson also noted the importance of this new technology to the nation's and Michigan's overall economic growth.

categories: Economy

12:25 - August 13, 2009

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