Think Global, which has a factory in Elkhart and uses batteries made in the Indianapolis area, plans to liquidate its assets, according to supplier Ener1 Inc. Ener1 expects to lose $32 million in the process.
The battery maker has been hurt by slow sales of electric car manufactured in Elkhart.
Battery maker Ener1 Inc. has fired Chief Operating Officer Rick Stanley, who was also president of the company's Indianapolis-based operation, EnerDel Inc.
Christopher Cowger joins Ener1 from California-based Advanced Micro Devices, where he was corporate vice president and general manager.
Battery maker Ener1 has laid off about 3 percent of its 770 employees worldwide, partly because of lower-than-expected demand from the Think electric car being assembled in Elkhart. It had about 380 workers in central Indiana.
Vice President Joe Biden was in Greenfield, about 25 miles east of Indianapolis, on Wednesday morning to visit an EnerDel plant that received a $118.5 million Recovery Act grant in 2009 to expand its lithium-ion battery production.
Indianapolis-based EnerDel is the main battery supplier for Think’s two-seat City.
The utility, which has about 780,000 customers in Indiana, is teaming with Japanese firm Itochu Corp. to test applications for used electric vehicle batteries. The pilot project builds on Indiana’s clean-tech initiative, Energy Systems Network.
Think North America plans to start production work on electric cars at a Middlebury-area factory before the end of this year.
New York-based Ener1 didn't disclose how it will use the funds coming from Ener1 Group Inc., a company led by Russian industrialist Boris Zingarevich.
Ener1 Inc., the parent company of local advanced-battery maker EnerDel, has reorganized its corporate structure and shuffled management ranks.
The parent company of lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel Inc. has raised another $65 million to help finance operations and ramp up its manufacturing operations in the Indianapolis area.
Locally based EnerDel Inc. has been riding high on prospects its lithium-ion batteries will be in hot demand to power plug-in
electric vehicles, but another market might be larger. A Piper Jaffray report estimates the global market for batteries used
to store electricity on utility power grids could be $600 billion over 10 years.
The parent of locally based lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel is putting together hundreds of millions of dollars in financing
to fund a business plan that could bring revenue to nearly $1 billion within five years.
The parent company of lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel has landed a $65 million investment from its largest shareholder.
Battery company will offer expertise to help Wanxiang build Chinese factory, fill backlogs. Indiana employment could reach 3,000, but there’s no target date for achieving that milestone.
Event will bring together a delegation of Chinese automakers and Indiana manufacturers to explore business opportunities relating
to hybrid and electric vehicles.
The locally based battery maker serves as collateral on the financing lined up by its New York-based parent, Ener1.
City will be among first to conduct demonstration of several plug-in electric vehicles prior to their market
launch next year.
Lithium battery maker EnerDel will need more business than its existing relationships with Think and Volvo to justify the $237 million investment
it announced Thursday.
