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EnerDel lands $118 million stimulus grant

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EnerDel, 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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  1. Well, we could blame ABC because they haven't advertised the INDY 500....not during the HUGE TV rating shows like Dancing with the Stars (of which IICS driver Helio Castroneves is a former champion). He never won a CART championship, did he?

    We could blame the new car...because it's ugly and has a V6 that has less horsepower than the pace car. CART (to my knowledge) never had that problem with cars they presented at the speedway years 1979 through 1995.

    We could blame the fencepost, but that would be crass. Or maybe Danica? Or maybe Jean Alesi....or boost increases from constant rules tampering. Maybe we could blame Penske who still is winning everything as usual.

    Maybe we can blame the world for not understanding the the great Indy gods who regularly twist things in such ways that we mere mortals must only accept, but never question.

    So, it does beg the question....who is responsible if the series and Indy continues to flounder? Are the responsibilities so diffuse and complicated that no one really is to blame for it's fall from grace?

    I urge the speedway to sign on for 7 more years of ABC coverage and 7 more years of NBC Sports Network coverage. It been win-win so far....*cough* *cough*

  2. "They're problem was thinking they were bigger than the institution that made their existence possible. That turned out to be a mistake."

    The above quote made by Disciple shows his continued inability to grasp a simple concept: CART is dead. Twice. It provided a brilliant stage for some of the best open wheel racing in all the past century of racing. It's gone DOOD, get over it.

    PLEASE explain, Mr. Disciple of INDYCAR, why you continually hammer home, even on the eve of the 2012 Indy 500, this same point...over and over? Seriously, why does the legacy of CART haunt you so much?

    The same problems that affected the sport for over a century of AOW racing STILL affect it now. Your answers (or lack thereof) belittle the very sport you claim to love. Indy rots in your hands yet you request status quo. You negate salient points with drivel...always.

    Indy is not going to die. But, it is dying...are you willing to accept that? "Indy is a hot mess"....it's true. Yet you want it that way? What is wrong with you?

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  4. Triscuts...love um!

  5. Of course the fair will go on. Don't you big city reporters understand county fairs? Get outside the beltway and see what life is really like!

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