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Two New Lithium Battery Plants in Detroit

April 30, 2009 in Biz News, EVs, PHEVs by kristen | No comments

Two battery manufacturers with offices in Michigan have announced plans to build factories in the beleaguered state. LG Chem-Compact Power and A123 Systems will build two of the four expected lithium battery plants to come to Michigan in the near future. The other two waiting in the wings are Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions and KD Advanced Battery Group.

The A123 plant will be the bigger of the two, with $600 million in seed money and more than 5,000 positions expected to be filled. Compact Power’s plant gets a $200 million investment to create about 300 jobs. Both companies will recieve $125-million tax credits from the state as a thank-you.

EV Factory in Kentucky Breaks Ground

September 17, 2008 in Biz News, EVs, Future Cars by kristen | No comments

Franklin, Kentucky, will be the home of new venture Integrity Automotive, which will build the Zap Alias, among other vehicles. The first shovelfuls of dirt were lifted last Friday, and the first cars are expected to roll off the assembly line in a year. Zap brought a protype of the space-age-looking Alias to the groundbreaking.

The 200-acre site is being prepped for a 1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility that will employ 1000 people and produce electric vehicles for Zap’s global distribution. Currently, most of Zap’s electric vehicles, including the popular little Xebra neighborhood electric vehicle, are built in China. Kentucky put together $48 million in incentives to lure Zap to bring jobs to their state instead of farming them out to Asia, and the city of Franklin has pledged $76 million in industrial revenue bonds. Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear, also signed an executive order to expand the use of EVs in the state.

The plant is a joint venture between Integrity Manufacturing, one of Kentucky’s fastest-growing businesses, and Zap. The EV builder has had a shaky reputation in the past for following through on its promises, so let’s hope they see this one all the way through.

GM to Go “Landfill Free”

September 9, 2008 in Biz News by kristen | No comments

Speaking of GM\'s Recycling Efforts ...GM reported last week that it’s taken a large stride in its goal of making 80 of its largest manufacturing facilities “landfill free.” Another 33 plants have been added to the roster, bringing the total number of sites recycling 96% or more of their manufacturing waste to 43. In addition to high recycling requirements, the facilities must also convert at least 3% of their waste  to energy.

While recycling and reusing leftover car bits has an undeniable environmental impact, it affects GM’s bottom line, too. Its global scrap metal recycling efforts have reached $1 billion a year, with another $16 million coming from the sale of recycled wood, cardboard, oil, and plastic.

Most of the factories on the list so far are outside the U.S., but so is most of GM’s manufacturing. The original list of 10 landfill-free facilities included five U.S. plants and five foreign. The addition of the next 33 has locations from Bupyeong, Korea, to Wixom, Michigan, and covers everything from powertrains to assembly.

GM said in a press release that it will recycle or reuse 3 million tons of waste this year, and keep 3.65 million metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere. Half of the company’s facilities will be landfill-free by 2010, according to the release.

Photo by EuroTraveler.