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After a mad scramble, EV battery shakeout begins
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By David Sedgwick | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Posted February 13, 2012
DETROIT (Feb. 13, 1:45 p.m. ET) --
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By David Sedgwick | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Posted February 13, 2012
DETROIT (Feb. 13, 1:45 p.m. ET) --
A shakeout of North America’s electric vehicle battery suppliers is under way.
In January, Ener1 Inc., the New York-based battery maker that owned a stake in bankrupt Norwegian EV producer Think Global, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization.
That same month, A123 Systems of Waltham, Mass., laid off 35 percent of its workers at two Michigan plants after reducing its revenue outlook for 2011.
Meanwhile, Boston-Power Inc. of Westborough, Mass., plans to move the bulk of its operations to China, where the government is offering big subsidies to bolster the EV industry.
Given slow sales of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, some industry insiders have predicted it will take another decade or so for the U.S. market to generate high-volume sales of EVs. Battery makers appear to have gotten ahead of the market: One study says “excessively grand expansion plans” would result in production capacity at twice the level of market demand by 2015.
A shakeout was inevitable, says industry consultant Jon Bereisa.
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