South Korean battery make LG Chem says it will spend more than $300 million over the next three years to build a manufacturing plant in Michigan for advanced technology batteries. The company is one of four battery makers approved for generous state tax incentives this summer  as Michigan bids to become the nation’s battery-making center. [...]

As electric vehicle proponents, alternative energy entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists have predicted, the development of better, more efficient batteries will give the electric vehicle (EV) industry the game changing boost it needs to change the way we think about transportation. Battery technology, which produced the successful development of the lithim-ion battery for laptop computers and [...]

Lyle over at GM-Volt was able to interview the CEO of Compact Power about the costs involved in making the lithium batteries that will go in the Chevy Volt. Here’s an excerpt: I recently had the chance to ask him about the cost of lithium-ion batteries.  As some sources suggest cost could be as high [...]

Getting 500,000 electric cars on the world’s roads by 2015 – 1 percent of all the autos produced today – would gobble just 10 percent of the planet’s lithium production each year. That’s more than enough lithium to meet expected demand, say researchers at consulting firm Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), who recently released the fear-allaying [...]

Here at EVW I track news about electric vehicles and report on it.  This isn’t exactly news about electric vehicles, but it is news for the green crowd, and good news for our aging grid. New battery technology promises to store a lot of energy combined with a discharge/recharge cycle that can be run once [...]

The Department of Energy has a $2.4 billion stimulus fund to give EV car makers and suppliers a boost to help them bring EVs to the road sooner than later.  So if you’re a car maker looking into EVs or a supplier it’s been like Christmas and the DOE is Santa. Johnson Controls, based in [...]

We reported earlier that GM will be the first automaker in the US to produce battery packs for cars.  The General will by buying the lithium batteries from LG Chem and them assembling them into a pack for the Volt at a new plant to be built in Michigan. “We are investing in the future [...]

The battery pack for the Volt is possibly the most important part of the car.  It’s the most expensive component, and if it malfunctions the car loses almost all of it’s appeal (assuming it doesn’t cause a fire in which case the car loses all of its appeal). LG Chem is going to be the [...]

GM will establish the first lithium-ion battery pack manufacturing facility operated by a major automaker in the United States to produce the Volt’s battery pack system. It consists of lithium-ion cells that are grouped into modules, along with other key battery components. The plant will be located in Michigan, subject to negotiations with state and [...]

LG Chem LTD, a company based in South Korea has been chosen as the first generation Volt battery supplier.  A123 Systems and Compact Power Inc were also in the running to be the supplier for the Volt.  The deal will be formally announced in November, but right now GM and LG Chem are discussing different [...]