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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Day One

Welcome

Greg Main Michigan Economic Development Corporation

Michigan is proud to host the symposium on developing the advanced-battery industry for electric vehicles and appreciates the partnership with the National Academy of Sciences, said Mr. Main, the Michigan Economic Develop Corp.’s president and CEO. Mr. Main recalled a comment President Barack Obama made at a recent groundbreaking ceremony for a new battery plant in Holland, Mich. “This event really signals where Michigan is going and where America is going,” the President said.1

One reason Michigan has emerged as the U.S. center for advanced batteries is that it targeted the industry before the federal government and other states did so, Mr. Main explained. It also crafted a strategy to develop and grow the industry, he said. Michigan has long been the home of the auto industry. “Certainly that industry has been in difficult straits in the past few years--and the past decade, really,” he said. “We saw this as an opportunity to help the auto industry diversify and to help Michigan diversify going forward.”

In August 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $1.3 billion in Recovery Act grants to 13 Michigan-based projects to support advanced-battery and electric-vehicle manufacturing. That represented more than half of the federal funds devoted to the advanced battery initiative. “It was a great day in Michigan, but it came after more than three years of effort on our part, and certainly a significant effort on the part of the Big Three to move forward in this exciting new area,” he said. Just since August 2009, “16 advanced battery and battery technology companies have committed to plants in Michigan. Those projects will create an estimated 62,000 jobs by 2020,” he said. In addition to the LG Chem-Compact Power facility, “five other lithium-ion cell and battery plants were under construction [as of July 2010] or soon will be. They are by

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1 For text of President Barack Obama’s speech at the groundbreaking of the battery plant by LG Chem and Compact Power, see “Remarks by President in Holland, Michigan on Investing in Clean Energy,” the White House Office of the Secretary, July 15, 2010 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/thepress-office/remarks-president-holland-michigan-investing-clean-energy).

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×

A123 Systems in Livonia, Dow Kokam in Midland, Fortu PowerCell in Muskegon, Johnson Controls-Saft in Holland, and Safti3 in Ann Arbor. So as you can see, this is a very exciting time in Michigan,” Mr. Main said. “We are giving birth to an entire new industry in North America.”

Mr. Main cited several people as driving forces in creating this symposium and bringing it to Michigan: Dr. Charles Wessner, director of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the National Academy of Sciences; McAlister Clabaugh, program officer for the NAS Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP); and Dr. Mary Good, professor and founding dean of the College of the Donahue College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a STEP board member; and U.S. Senator Carl Levin.

Ranked by Time magazine as one of America’s 10 best senators, “Senator Levin has fought tirelessly to strengthen and grow Michigan’s economy,” Mr. Main said. “He has been a long-time advocate of programs that provide for joint industry and government partnerships, including the development of advanced vehicle technology.” These efforts led to the growth of the U.S. Army’s National Automotive Center in Warren, Mich., he said, “which has played an important role in the development of advanced technologies for military use, often in conjunction with the private sector,” he said.

Sen. Levin’s efforts are helping assure that electric hybrid cars and trucks will have batteries stamped “Made in America” and “Made in Michigan,” Mr. Main said. “You can get to know and admire government leaders, as I have over the years,” he said. “But you will be hard-pressed to find one as energetic, as focused, as knowledgeable, and as generally committed to the work of building a better place to live, work, play, and raise one’s family as our senior Senator.”

Mr. Main welcomed Sen. Levin to the podium.

Opening Remarks I

Carl Levin United States Senate

Senator Levin began by remarking that “this is really an opportunity for me to talk about one of my favorite subjects.”

Senator Levin thanked the Michigan Economic Development Corp. for all of its efforts to help Michigan’s economy. The work being done by the MEDC and attendees of the symposium “is enormously important to us, not just here in Michigan,” he declared. “I am proud to be in the center of an industry that not only will burgeon, but also be important to our country, to our national

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×

security, and to the national economy as well. You are going to be making a huge difference in people’s lives.” Besides being interesting from a technical and marketing perspective, he said, the effort “is important to people who don’t know an advanced lithium-ion battery from an Energizer bunny battery.”

One reason to believe advanced batteries will “become a major industry” and usher in “major change in the way we move our people” is that President Obama, his Administration, and a majority of Congress “understand the transformative power of electric vehicles,” Senator Levin said. “We also understand that we cannot unleash that power unless government partners with industry to make that happen.”

Attitudes toward collaboration between government and industry have shifted dramatically in Washington, Senator Levin said. “A few years ago, anyone who suggested that government work closely with industry was accused of supporting an ‘industrial policy.’ If that industrial policy label stuck to anything, it was a kiss of death,” he recalled. “That was not too long ago. That was a fact of political life.”

Today, policymakers “understand that American companies are not only competing against foreign companies,” Senator Levin said. “They are competing with countries and governments who support their domestic industries. We learned that. It took us too long. It put us at a competitive disadvantage to learn about the realistic necessity of that partnership.” These days, “the question no longer is about whether government should be teaming up with industry,” he said. “The question is about what we need to do, how we do it, and with what timeline.”

Government and industry are “off to a great start,” Senator Levin said. This is illustrated by the government’s decision to invest more than $2 billion in advanced battery and related technologies, as well as in other areas to promote electric vehicles. “We need to make mass-market electric vehicles a reality, and that means a lot more than $2 billion for batteries,” he said. “It also has meant a $5 billion investment aimed at electrifying—literally and metaphorically—the American transportation sector.” The federal money is being combined with private investment, much of it by companies represented at the symposium in Livonia, he noted. “Factories are going up. Batteries are beginning to roll off assembly lines,” Senator Levin said. “But that is just the beginning. Congress knows we have just begun this effort. The White House knows the same thing. That is true for research and development facilities and true for factories.”

The next crucial step “is to figure out how to make electric vehicles affordable and sustainable in a country that has spent more than a century shackled to oil,” Senator Levin said. “There is much left to do.” Indeed, he said, now that the industry has turned the corner toward electric vehicles, “more challenges lay ahead of us than behind.” He listed a number of major questions that must be answered:

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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  • “How do we bring down the cost of these vehicles so that they are affordable not only to the greenest consumers, but also affordable to families who are stretching their paychecks to make ends meet?”
  • “How do we give drivers who have spent their lives knowing that a gas station is right down the road confidence that the necessary infrastructure that is needed to recharge these new vehicles will be there for them?”
  • “How do we give them batteries that they can depend on in the range that they will need?”
  • “How do we produce enough electricity to keep these vehicles rolling, even during peak hours without adding even more harmful carbon into the atmosphere in the process?”

The common denominator in each of these challenges is “the need for the determination to see all these things through,” Senator Levin said. For the power of electric batteries to be fully realized, policies aimed at promoting electric vehicles must have staying power. “We need that determination because we are beginning to fight a revolution, a revolution in transportation for the sake of our economy and the sake of our planet,” he said. Policymakers must remain determined “not to allow oil-producing countries in the Middle East to throw us off our course of energy independence by slashing the cost of oil, as they have done in the past when we move toward breaking our addiction to their product,” he said.

Based on current trends in technology development, consumer demand, and government incentives, Senator Levin noted, industry projections indicate that electrified vehicles can account for 10 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2020. But this bar should be raised. He urged industry experts to find an answer to a vital question. “What we need is for folks like you to tell us what it would take to double that goal,” he said. “Tell us in Congress and tell us in the Administration what it would take to achieve a goal that would truly inspire the nation. What would it take to achieve a goal that is bold enough to move us beyond the incremental, miles-per-gallon-here-and-there battles on standards, and instead start us down a truly revolutionary path?” Industry experts should advise Washington on the kind of research support and regulatory support companies and academic laboratories need, he said. “Do we need new efforts to insure we have the raw materials?” he asked. “What investments are needed in new electricity generation? What would be needed to build the infrastructure to support that many electric vehicles? What would it take to sustain us once we are on that path?”

The National Academy of Sciences “will help guide us there,” Senator Levin said. “But we will need the practical help, practical support, and practical advice of those that are in the industry.”

A century and a half ago, young man working in Port Huron, Mich., as a telegraph operator “spent his every spare moment buried in science and

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×

technology books,” Senator Levin noted. “His name was Thomas Edison. He combined that knowledge with his own remarkable vision and curiosity to begin a revolution that would literally light the world.”

Now, America is “on threshold a second electrical revolution,” Senator Levin declared. This revolution will “transform our streets, our economy, and the lives of millions of workers who could go to work producing vehicles that will dominate this century--just as Edison’s light bulb dominated the last century.” At the same time, this second electrical revolution can help restore America’s manufacturing base, boost its economy, and save the planet from the fundamental threat of warming, he said. “You and folks like you can make this happen,” Senator Levin said. “Tell us what you need to get us there, and I can commit to you that most of my colleagues and I in the Congress will do everything that we can to give you the tools and support you need to make this a great nation.”

Senator Levin thanked the attendees for their efforts and for “helping to insure the younger generation will join in this truly peaceful revolution to make this world a far better place.”

Opening Remarks II

INTRODUCTION

Charles W. Wessner The National Academies

Dr. Wessner said he was inspired by Senator Levin’s speech and encouraged by his commitment that there will be consistent Congressional support for the advanced-battery initiative. The U.S. system, however, requires not only legislature support but also “an executive who is willing to execute.”

Therefore, Dr. Wessner said he was pleased to introduce Dr. Sridhar Kota, assistant director for advanced manufacturing at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Dr. Wessner noted that Dr. Kota has assumed his Washington responsibilities while on leave from the University of Michigan, where he is a professor of mechanical engineering, adding that Dr. Kota is “ideally situated for our discussions today because he is also an entrepreneur,” having founded Flexis Inc., which develops fuel-efficient adaptive aircraft wings and high-efficiency wind turbine blades.2

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2 Dr. Sridhar Kota founded FlexSys Inc. in 2000 to develop and commercialize his patented design of a shape-morphing adaptive control surface of an airfoil. Dr. Kota is a pioneer of the bio-inspired concept of distributed compliance, which allows structures to adapt their performance in response to different conditions. The technology is being applied in aerospace, automotive, and other industries.

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Dr. Kota received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Machine Design Award, which is the highest award dedicated to engineering design, as well as the ASME Leonardo DiVinci Award. “We are very fortunate that we have an exceptional individual like Dr. Kota, both at the White House and here to focus on the needs of this state and this nation.”

Sridhar Kota White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

The United States still leads the world in manufacturing, accounting for some 21 percent of global production, Dr. Kota noted. However, that leadership has eroded due to “the decisions made decades ago for off-shoring and outsourcing.” The erosion also can be seen in indicators such as the rising U.S. trade deficit in high-tech goods with nations such as China. That deficit has been growing since 2001.

When it comes to understanding the importance of U.S. manufacturing, the Obama Administration “gets it,” Dr. Kota said, “not only for economic security but also certainly for energy security and national security.” Therefore, the Administration has made considerable investments in basic research as well as what he referred to as the “manufacturing commons.”

The product development cycle in the U.S. generally begins with basic research, where the federal government heavily concentrates its investment, Dr. Kota explained. This research leads to discoveries and inventions at universities and national laboratories. But although the United States still leads the world in basic research, “that is just a first step,” he said. “We need to go beyond that.” Not every discovery will lead to a commercial product, as you all know well.” Therefore, the U.S. must invest in translational research to develop proofs of concept, see which pan out, and “take it further to go to manufacturing.”

To move to large-scale production, investment in the “manufacturing commons” are needed, Dr. Kota said. This commons includes engineering R&D, skills, components infrastructure, equipment, and standards. Platform technologies must be developed. By building the manufacturing commons, he said, “you build new products and innovations--and the cycle continues.”

Manufacturing is very closely tied to innovation, Dr. Kota said. “If you don’t have those manufacturing commons in place, we are not going to be able to innovate next-generation products. There is no doubt about that.” The Administration, therefore, is increasing spending on R&D but also is investing in infrastructure and developing innovation policy for “creating new industries and growing and sustaining existing industries,” he said.

The essential requirements for establishing new industries are radical technological innovation, early adaptation of breakthrough technologies, and access to capital, Dr. Kota noted.

In terms of innovation, the Administration is trying to fill a gap in the process. Most federal investment goes into scientific discovery, Dr. Kota

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×

explained. Twenty or 30 years ago, large corporate research labs such as ATT’s Bell Labs and Xerox Park took basic research and turned it into technologies and applications. Since those big labs closed, most corporations concentrate their R&D spending on commercial development, “leaving a gap in the middle” of the process, he said. To fill that innovation gap and establish the manufacturing commons in the battery industry, the Administration is encouraging public-private partnerships.

The federal government also is trying to promote early adoption of batteries to enable manufacturers to scale up, Dr. Kota explained. The U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Defense both are buying more electrified vehicles, for example. To improve access to capital, the federal government has established a number of policies and programs. They include DOD loan guarantees and new Export-Import Bank programs.

To grow and sustain existing industries, technological and business innovation is needed, of course, Dr. Kota said. But industries also need fundamental infrastructure. That includes “a skilled workforce at all levels, not only trained manufacturing workers for next-generation emerging technologies but also college graduates with multidisciplinary skills to deal with the next-generation, innovative energy engineers,” he said. New programs also are being considered to provide tools that can improve quality, time, and cost, such as computer modeling and simulation, he said. American productivity remains high, Dr. Kota pointed out. “But it has been coming down steadily,” he said.

Many challenges facing U.S. production are addressed in a December 2009 document issued by the White House called “A Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing.” The framework identifies key challenges and drivers of global competitiveness in manufacturing and seven principles to strengthen the U.S. manufacturing base. They are:

  • Double R&D budgets for key science agencies.
  • Improve coordination of manufacturing-related R&D.
  • Explore new options to stimulate innovations and technological breakthroughs.
  • Make the research & experimentation tax credit permanent.
  • Spur innovation in manufacturing by expanding the Technology Innovation Program (TIP).
  • Pursue structural reforms that support innovation and production.
  • Protect intellectual property rights.3

The Administration is acting on each of these priorities in the 2011 federal budget, Dr. Kota explained. In terms of technology, it boosted funding for the National Science Foundation to advance basic research, for example, and called for $150 million by 2015 for the Technology Innovation Program at the National

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3 Executive Office of the President, “A Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing,” op. cit.

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×

Institute of Standards and Technology. The TIP program, Dr. Kota noted, “was largely neglected in the past few years but now is being strengthened.”

The budget also calls for investing $12 million in university innovation centers that focus on developing proofs of concept and prototypes, an additional $10 million for nano-manufacturing, and $300 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, a new organization within the Department of Energy that promotes R&D in new energy technologies. Other efforts under the Department of Commerce and the Office and Science and Technology Policy promote R&D commercialization at universities.

Business-related investments by the Administration include access to capital under the DoE’s 1703 and 1705 loan guarantee programs,4 greater access to capital for exports, the 1603 program that gives cash grants in lieu of tax credits,5 the 48 C manufacturing tax credit,6 and the advanced vehicle manufacturing loan program. The manufacturing tax credit, Dr. Kota noted, originally provided $2 billion that leveraged more than $7 billion in private investment. But the program proved so popular that the Administration expanded it by another $5 billion, he said.

The advanced-battery program exemplifies the new manufacturing strategy. “Battery technology, some may say, was a good example of something that was largely invented here and manufactured elsewhere,” Dr. Kota said. “But now, the stars are all aligned. I think there is great opportunity right now for us to regain leadership in battery technology.” Not only is the federal government making investments, but there also is great support by states such as Michigan, local government, and public-private partnerships, he said. “Investing in R&D and the manufacturing commons will give us the infrastructure we need,” Dr. Kota said.

Half of the $2.4 billion in Recovery Act funding for the battery industry went to Michigan, Dr. Kota noted. Some $4.5 billion in federal investment in smart-grid technologies also will help manufacturing of advanced batteries, as well as devices such as smart meters, he added.

Another example of federal commitment to advanced batteries, Dr. Kota noted, is a July 21, 2010, memo by Office of Management and Budget Director

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4 Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (“EP Act 2005”) authorizes the DOE to issue loan guarantees to acceleration commercialization of technologies that “avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases.” Section 1705 of the EP Act is a temporary program set up under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorizing the DOE to make loan guarantees to renewable energy systems, electric transmission systems and leading-edge bio-fuels projects that commence construction no later than Sept. 30, 2011.

5 Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created a program administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury that extends grants covering between 10 percent and 30 percent of the cost of certain renewable-energy property.

6 The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit was authorized in Section 1302 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and also is known as Section 48C of the Internal Revenue Code. It authorizes the Department of Treasury to award $2.3 billion in tax credits to cover 30 percent of investments in advanced energy projects, to support new, expanded, or re-equipped domestic manufacturing facilities.

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×

Peter Orszag and John Holdren, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The memo identified six science and technology priorities. One was: “Prioritize R&D on advanced vehicle technologies, particularly modeling and simulation of lightweight materials and their manufacturing processes, batteries, and hybrid power trains; and systems integration and demonstration of advanced vehicle platforms.”7

Federal investments targeting advanced batteries include the DoE’s Energy’s Vehicle Technology Program,8 ARPA-E, and the Department of Defense’s program to electrify its fleet of non-combat, tactical, and combat vehicles. The departments of Defense and Energy are collaborating on another program to electrify the U.S. Army’s fleet. The Army has committed to cutting its fuel consumption by 20 percent in the next 10 to 15 years, Dr. Kota noted. The electrification of the Army’s fleet “gives us an opportunity as an early adopter and an opportunity for you guys to take your ideas to the Army to use as a proving ground.” The DoE/DOE collaboration involves great technologies coming out of the DoE, whether they are batteries or composites.”

The fact that the Army’s Tank-Automotive Command Research, Development, and Engineering (TARDEC) headquarters is in Michigan “is a great opportunity” for DoE-DOE collaborations to commercialize component technologies and integrate them into vehicles, Dr. Kota said. Rather than “just present a shiny object,” such collaborations can “prove the cost and manufacturing feasibility for next-generation, advanced fuel-efficient vehicles,” he said. “I think that is great.”

Michigan’s investments in the industry are paying off. “Michigan is well poised to become the battery manufacturing capital, thanks to efforts by the MEDC, Governor Granholm, and the state’s Congressional delegation, who have made tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to this industry,” Dr. Kota said. The fruits of these efforts include big investments by Johnson Controls, A123, and Dow-Kokam. “There also are very many start-ups coming out as a result of investments both by the federal and statement government,” he noted.

Great research is coming out of America’s national laboratories and universities, but now comes “the hard work of translating that into real-world, practical solutions,” Dr. Kota said. Major hurdles remain for the advanced battery industry, such as cost, performance, safety, battery life, and

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7 From M-1-30 Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, by Peter R. Orszag, director of Office and Management and Budget, and John P Holdren, director of Office of Science Technology Policy, “Science and Technology Priorities for FY 2012 Budget,” Executive Office of the President, July 21, 2010 (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vLUw6QLwTosJ:www.whitehouse.gov/omb/asset.aspxpercent3FAssetIDpercent3D2852+orszag+holdren+july+21+memo+science+priorities&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a)

8 The Vehicle Technologies Program is administered by the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the Department of Energy. It funds projects aimed at developing “leap frog” technologies that will lead to more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly transportation.

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×

manufacturing. “Each of those is a great, tough challenge. And at the end of the day, you have to meet all of them,” Dr. Kota said. Just meeting cost requirements but not solving performance problems won’t be sufficient, for example. “Meeting just one of them is hard,” he said. “Meeting all of them is a daunting task.”

Many experts and programs are working to meet those challenges, Dr. Kota pointed out. For instance, ARPA-E is working on “potential breakthroughs in new battery chemistries that are two or three or five times better than current technologies,” he said. It also is working on new manufacturing methods “that could change the game altogether.” In addition to components, important R&D efforts are underway in composites for more fuel-efficient vehicles, he said.

At a higher level, public-private partnerships through the DOE and DOD are collaborating on system integration for electric vehicles, Dr. Kota pointed out. U.S. efforts to promote a smart power grid “tie in very well with the efforts in electric vehicles and hybrids,” he said. “So there are great opportunities for very talented people to meet these challenges.”

To conclude, Dr. Kota posed several questions. The first regards electric vehicles. “What technological breakthroughs are needed for a sustainable plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles industry?” he asked. “You are the experts. If you could identify those that would help guide the things we do in Washington.”

The second question is about batteries. “What kinds of partnerships and business models and policies do we need to gain global manufacturing leadership in these technologies?” he asked. Washington’s role is another. “We have many programs and policies in place,” Dr. Kota said. “We want to hear from you what is working and not in terms of how the federal government can be more effective in strengthening the battery industry.” The fourth question regards economic growth. “As President Obama said, this is not about creating a battery program,” he said. “It is about unleashing private-sector growth. The people rights here are testament to that private-sector investment and partnership.”

Michigan has more than 100 years of experience in product development, manufacturing, and engineering, Dr. Kota said. “There is no better place in the world to try to create a vibrant and globally competitive battery industry.”

Opening Remarks III

Jennifer Granholm State of Michigan

Governor Granholm welcomed the participants and welcomed them to Michigan for “this conference on the achievements, challenges, and

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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opportunities in developing a globally competitive battery industry.” She said the organizers “sure picked an appropriate time—and you better believe you picked an appropriate place for this conference.”

Governor Granholm noted that July 14, 2010—just one week prior to this conference—was the anniversary of the DOE announcement that it would invest $2.4 billion to support advanced battery and electric vehicle manufacturing development. Michigan “is well underway to becoming the advanced battery capital of the world,” she said.

Vice President Joe Biden came to Michigan in August 2009 to announce that $1.35 billion of those grants would go to 12 projects in Michigan, Governor Granholm noted. “That total was more than all of the other 49 states combined,” she said. Michigan succeeded because it targeted advanced batteries several years earlier as “a sector we wanted to grow to diversify Michigan’s economy and to create jobs,” she said.

Michigan’s tax credits for advanced battery projects “were the first in the nation and, by the way, the most aggressive in the nation,” she said. “When I signed those battery credits into law, it sent a clear signal that Michigan is very serious about being a leader in this industry.”

As a result of those credits and the DOE grants, “a whole advanced battery supply chain is taking root from the Detroit area to the shores of Lake Michigan,” Governor Granholm said. Michigan now has 16 advanced-battery projects underway, representing around $6 billion in capital investment. Those plants are expected to create some 62,000 new jobs over the next 10 years, she said.

That supply chain includes anodes, cathodes, separators, and electrolytes, as well as companies building cells, integrating them into battery packs, and integrating them into electric vehicles, Governor Granholm explained. “The whole spectrum is right here in Michigan,” she said. “This is an exciting time as we begin moving in earnest to a clean-energy economy in the United States.”

The emerging advanced-battery industry is the result of collaborative partnerships between the federal government, state and local governments, and the private sector, Governor Granholm said. “It is critical that these partnerships continue and that they grow stronger,” she said.

Congressional help also is needed, she said. That includes passage of legislation to expand the advanced energy manufacturing tax credit and that continues federal tax credits to consumers buying electric vehicles, “at least until the cost of manufacturing lithium-ion batteries is comparable to that for internal combustion engines,” Governor Granholm said.

A clean-energy economy not only will “create millions of jobs but also will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and enhance our national security, our energy security,” Governor Granholm said. “It is a win, win, win for our nation.”

Manufacturing the “key components for the clean-energy economy” in the United States is “absolutely critical,” she said. “The batteries, the wind turbines, the solar panels—right here. And Michigan, I just want to let you know, intends

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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to lead the way in clean-energy manufacturing. We have manufacturing in our DNA.” Michigan has manufacturing capacity, a workforce, and “engineers who know how to solve problems,” Governor Granholm said. “So we are very excited. We are very bullish on the opportunities that clean-energy manufacturing provides.”

Governor Granholm thanked the National Academies’ STEP Board “for honoring our progress in the advanced battery industry in Michigan by convening this conference right here in our state.” She said that “I hope you have a fantastic conference, I hope you enjoy your stay here, and I invite you all to visit again to experience everything that is pure Michigan.”

Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Page 54
Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
×
Page 55
Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Page 56
Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Page 57
Suggested Citation:"Day One--Welcome and Opening Remarks." National Research Council. 2012. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13370.
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Since 1991, the National Research Council, under the auspices of the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, has undertaken a program of activities to improve policymakers' understandings of the interconnections of science, technology, and economic policy and their importance for the American economy and its international competitive position. The Board's activities have corresponded with increased policy recognition of the importance of knowledge and technology to economic growth. The goal of the this symposium was to conduct two public symposia to review and analyze the potential contributions of public-private partnerships and identify other relevant issues for the Department of Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies, Energy Storage Team's activities in the energy storage research and development area. The symposia will also identify lessons from these and other domestic and international experiences to help inform DoE as to whether its activities are complete and appropriately focused. Additional topics that emerge in the course of the planning may also be addressed. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Summary of a Symposium gathers representatives from leading battery manufacturers, automotive firms, university researchers, academic and industry analysts, congressional staff, and federal agency representatives. An individually-authored summary of each symposium will be issued.

The symposium was held in Michigan in order to provide direct access to the policymakers and industrial participants drawn from the concentration of battery manufacturers and automotive firms in the region. The symposium reviewed the current state, needs, and challenges of the U.S. advanced battery manufacturing industry; challenges and opportunities in battery R&D, commercialization, and deployment; collaborations between the automotive industry and battery industry; workforce issues, and supply chain development. It also focused on the impact of DoE's investments and the role of state and federal programs in support of this growing industry. This task of this report is to summarize the presentations and discussions that took place at this symposium. Needless to say, the battery industry has evolved very substantially since the conference was held, and indeed some of the caveats raised by the speakers with regard to overall demand for batteries and the prospects of multiple producers now seem prescient. At the same time, it is important to understand that it is unrealistic to expect that all recipients of local, state, or federal support in a complex and rapidly evolving industry will necessarily succeed. A number of the firms discussed here have been absorbed by competitors, others have gone out of business, and others continue to progress.

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