By Joseph Lichterman of AutoWeek
About 25 percent of Ford Motor Co.'s fleet will be electrified by 2020, Chairman Bill Ford wrote in an article for Fortune magazine, published online on Tuesday.
With global oil prices rising and more congestion on the roads, Ford wrote that it is critical for the automakers to build smarter and cleaner-running cars that people will want to drive.
"For the first time in more than a century, some of the most fundamental and enduring elements of the automobile are being radically transformed," Ford wrote.
The company is "hedging its bets" by developing hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, Ford wrote, because he isn't sure which technology ultimately will prevail.
Ford Motor Co. will introduce its fully electric Focus along with two versions — plug-in hybrid and fully electric — of its new C-MaxX small minivan this year. Late last year, General Motors introduced the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, and Nissan Motor Co. launched the electric Leaf.
Ford wrote that the key to the budding electric car market is the lithium-ion battery. Asia has the lead in developing these batteries, Ford wrote, adding that the U.S. government should aid in building the American battery industry.
"I think it's a matter of national security to have a competitive American battery industry," Ford wrote. "Washington should increase r&d spending here unless they want to cede the development of batteries to other nations."
Congestion is another key issue, Ford wrote: "A green traffic jam is still a traffic jam."
In response, Ford and other automakers are developing vehicle-to-vehicle communications that will alert drivers to traffic and potentially dangerous situations, and help them find parking spots in crowded cities.
Read more (in new window) at: editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1185287&icid=autos_0544>1=22006
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Showing posts with label electric battery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electric battery. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Obama to visit groundbreaking of Michigan battery plant
Obama to visit groundbreaking of Michigan battery plant
Groundbreaking is Thursday for factory to supply electric cars
David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Washington -- President Barack Obama will make his fourth visit to Michigan since taking office, to take part Thursday in the groundbreaking of a $303 million battery plant.
The White House said Obama will attend the event for an LG Chem factory in Holland.
Obama has backed battery and electric vehicle production and has called for 1 million plug-in vehicles on the roads by 2015.
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Work on the site began early last month on the 650,000-square-foot plant, said Hank Riberas of Roncelli Co., the construction firm overseeing the project.
In March, the South Korean company and its Troy-based unit, Compact Power Inc., confirmed they would build the factory to make battery cells for electric vehicles, including General Motors Co.'s extended-range Chevrolet Volt.
The plant will be able to produce enough cells for up to 200,000 electric vehicle batteries and will create an estimated 300 jobs by 2013 -- in addition to hundreds of construction jobs to build the plant.
Half of the funding came from a $151.4 million federal grant from a $2.4 billion program announced in August to boost battery and electric vehicle research and production. Those funds do not have to be paid back.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has been promoting the state as a center for battery, electric vehicle and other green manufacturing jobs, will attend, as will many other of the state's elected leaders and auto executives.
Last month, Granholm announced state approval of a 15-year-old refundable tax credit for the project.
"Michigan is becoming a world capital for advanced batteries," Granholm said.
While in Nevada on Friday, Obama said his administration is committed to spending money for green jobs.
"We're going to go from 2 percent of advanced battery market share to 40 percent just in the next five years," he said. "That will create thousands of jobs across the country."
The state designation of the 120-acre site as a Renaissance Zone allows a company in the zone to operate free of virtually all state and local taxes.
The first generation of the Volt will go on sale in November using battery cells imported from South Korea.
dshepardson@detnews.com
From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100710/AUTO01/7100331/1148/Obama-to-visit-groundbreaking-of-Michigan-battery-plant#ixzz0tJ2L1dN1
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Groundbreaking is Thursday for factory to supply electric cars
David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Washington -- President Barack Obama will make his fourth visit to Michigan since taking office, to take part Thursday in the groundbreaking of a $303 million battery plant.
The White House said Obama will attend the event for an LG Chem factory in Holland.
Obama has backed battery and electric vehicle production and has called for 1 million plug-in vehicles on the roads by 2015.
Advertisement
Work on the site began early last month on the 650,000-square-foot plant, said Hank Riberas of Roncelli Co., the construction firm overseeing the project.
In March, the South Korean company and its Troy-based unit, Compact Power Inc., confirmed they would build the factory to make battery cells for electric vehicles, including General Motors Co.'s extended-range Chevrolet Volt.
The plant will be able to produce enough cells for up to 200,000 electric vehicle batteries and will create an estimated 300 jobs by 2013 -- in addition to hundreds of construction jobs to build the plant.
Half of the funding came from a $151.4 million federal grant from a $2.4 billion program announced in August to boost battery and electric vehicle research and production. Those funds do not have to be paid back.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has been promoting the state as a center for battery, electric vehicle and other green manufacturing jobs, will attend, as will many other of the state's elected leaders and auto executives.
Last month, Granholm announced state approval of a 15-year-old refundable tax credit for the project.
"Michigan is becoming a world capital for advanced batteries," Granholm said.
While in Nevada on Friday, Obama said his administration is committed to spending money for green jobs.
"We're going to go from 2 percent of advanced battery market share to 40 percent just in the next five years," he said. "That will create thousands of jobs across the country."
The state designation of the 120-acre site as a Renaissance Zone allows a company in the zone to operate free of virtually all state and local taxes.
The first generation of the Volt will go on sale in November using battery cells imported from South Korea.
dshepardson@detnews.com
From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100710/AUTO01/7100331/1148/Obama-to-visit-groundbreaking-of-Michigan-battery-plant#ixzz0tJ2L1dN1
To top of blog usaalternativeenergynow.blogspot.com
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