Post by jeffolie on Oct 16, 2012 11:37:16 GMT -6
A123 Bankrupt electric car battery producer
my jeffolie view: The electric car remains an expensive toy purchased for 'making a social statement' rather than a cost effective choice to hybrids engines such as the Prius or rather than a cost effective choice to high miles per gallon gasoline engine powered vehicles. The Chevy volt sucks the worst of the crowd and batteries remain the essential most costly problem. Obama choses LOSERS that corruptly contribute to his campaigns.
==================================
A123 Bankruptcy Gives Romney New Example of Electric-Car ‘Loser’
Oct 16, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney named four companies as “losers” in discussing President Barack Obama’s choices of green-energy aid recipients during their first debate two weeks ago.
A123 Systems Inc. (AONE) wasn’t one of them.
A123’s bankruptcy filing today, hours before Obama and Romney are scheduled to hold their second debate, may give the Republican more ammunition in his criticism of the president’s record on the economy. The electric-car battery producer, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, received a $249.1 million U.S. Energy Department grant from Obama’s economic stimulus package in 2009 to build a factory in Michigan.
“President Obama has been very strategic and aggressive in pointing to the auto bailout as an example of what the government did right,” Julian Zelizer, a history and political affairs professor at Princeton University, said in an interview. “This is the reverse. Romney will bring this out as an example not of corruption as in Solyndra but as an example of failed investment.”
Under Obama, the government has invested about $5 billion in the U.S. electric car industry through loans to auto companies including Fisker Automotive Inc. and Tesla Motors Inc., grants to companies such as A123, and tax credits of up to $7,500 for customers who buy plug-in cars. Some of the current administration’s investment is a continuation of programs begun during Republican George W. Bush’s presidency, before Obama took office in January 2009.
Fisker Batteries
A123 supplied lithium-ion batteries for Fisker’s $103,000 luxury plug-in Karma, which was panned by Consumer Reports after it stopped running in the middle of a test drive. That led to a recall by Fisker, which has also been backed by the Obama administration, that cost A123 $55 million and helped put it on the financial brink.
A123 filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to make a debt payment that was due yesterday.
“A123’s promising technology has a long history of bipartisan support,” Dan Leistikow, an Energy Department spokesman, wrote today in a blog post on the agency’s website. “In 2007, the company received a $6 million dollar grant as part of the Bush administration’s efforts to promote advanced battery manufacturing, and the company has used $132 million of a 2009 grant from the Department of Energy.”
Political Contributions
Jen Stutsman, an Energy Department spokeswoman, declined to comment beyond the blog post.
Top A123 officials have contributed to Democratic political candidates including Obama. Romney, who has called the Energy Department’s green-energy programs “crony capitalism,” singled out Fisker, Tesla, Solyndra LLC and Ener1 Inc. during the Oct. 3 debate as “losers” Obama had picked. Solar-panel maker Solyndra filed for bankruptcy last year, and Ener1, parent of a battery company that received a $118 million Energy Department grant, sought bankruptcy protection in January.
Republican U.S. Senators Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is his party’s ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, last week questioned A123’s plan, announced in August, to give Wanxiang Group Corp., China’s largest auto-parts maker, a majority stake in exchange for financing.
A123 is abandoning the Wanxiang plan and agreed to sell its automotive business to Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) for $125 million, A123 Chief Executive Officer David Vieau said in a statement today. Wanxiang had planned to invest as much as $465 million in A123, giving the Hangzhou, China-based company a stake of as much as 80 percent, A123 said in an Aug. 16 statement.
The A123 plant in Michigan was trumpeted by the company when it opened as the largest lithium-ion automotive battery plant in North America. Then-Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, lobbied the Obama administration for the battery- maker grants and hailed the plant as the next wave of Michigan’s economic recovery.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-16/a123-bankruptcy-gives-romney-new-example-of-electric-car-loser-.html
my jeffolie view: The electric car remains an expensive toy purchased for 'making a social statement' rather than a cost effective choice to hybrids engines such as the Prius or rather than a cost effective choice to high miles per gallon gasoline engine powered vehicles. The Chevy volt sucks the worst of the crowd and batteries remain the essential most costly problem. Obama choses LOSERS that corruptly contribute to his campaigns.
==================================
A123 Bankruptcy Gives Romney New Example of Electric-Car ‘Loser’
Oct 16, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney named four companies as “losers” in discussing President Barack Obama’s choices of green-energy aid recipients during their first debate two weeks ago.
A123 Systems Inc. (AONE) wasn’t one of them.
A123’s bankruptcy filing today, hours before Obama and Romney are scheduled to hold their second debate, may give the Republican more ammunition in his criticism of the president’s record on the economy. The electric-car battery producer, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, received a $249.1 million U.S. Energy Department grant from Obama’s economic stimulus package in 2009 to build a factory in Michigan.
“President Obama has been very strategic and aggressive in pointing to the auto bailout as an example of what the government did right,” Julian Zelizer, a history and political affairs professor at Princeton University, said in an interview. “This is the reverse. Romney will bring this out as an example not of corruption as in Solyndra but as an example of failed investment.”
Under Obama, the government has invested about $5 billion in the U.S. electric car industry through loans to auto companies including Fisker Automotive Inc. and Tesla Motors Inc., grants to companies such as A123, and tax credits of up to $7,500 for customers who buy plug-in cars. Some of the current administration’s investment is a continuation of programs begun during Republican George W. Bush’s presidency, before Obama took office in January 2009.
Fisker Batteries
A123 supplied lithium-ion batteries for Fisker’s $103,000 luxury plug-in Karma, which was panned by Consumer Reports after it stopped running in the middle of a test drive. That led to a recall by Fisker, which has also been backed by the Obama administration, that cost A123 $55 million and helped put it on the financial brink.
A123 filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to make a debt payment that was due yesterday.
“A123’s promising technology has a long history of bipartisan support,” Dan Leistikow, an Energy Department spokesman, wrote today in a blog post on the agency’s website. “In 2007, the company received a $6 million dollar grant as part of the Bush administration’s efforts to promote advanced battery manufacturing, and the company has used $132 million of a 2009 grant from the Department of Energy.”
Political Contributions
Jen Stutsman, an Energy Department spokeswoman, declined to comment beyond the blog post.
Top A123 officials have contributed to Democratic political candidates including Obama. Romney, who has called the Energy Department’s green-energy programs “crony capitalism,” singled out Fisker, Tesla, Solyndra LLC and Ener1 Inc. during the Oct. 3 debate as “losers” Obama had picked. Solar-panel maker Solyndra filed for bankruptcy last year, and Ener1, parent of a battery company that received a $118 million Energy Department grant, sought bankruptcy protection in January.
Republican U.S. Senators Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is his party’s ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, last week questioned A123’s plan, announced in August, to give Wanxiang Group Corp., China’s largest auto-parts maker, a majority stake in exchange for financing.
A123 is abandoning the Wanxiang plan and agreed to sell its automotive business to Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) for $125 million, A123 Chief Executive Officer David Vieau said in a statement today. Wanxiang had planned to invest as much as $465 million in A123, giving the Hangzhou, China-based company a stake of as much as 80 percent, A123 said in an Aug. 16 statement.
The A123 plant in Michigan was trumpeted by the company when it opened as the largest lithium-ion automotive battery plant in North America. Then-Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, lobbied the Obama administration for the battery- maker grants and hailed the plant as the next wave of Michigan’s economic recovery.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-16/a123-bankruptcy-gives-romney-new-example-of-electric-car-loser-.html