Michigan Pursues Efficiency, Advanced Battery Energy Storage for Electric Vehicles

Michigan aggressively recruits manufacturers of advanced batteries

June 2009

Between January and June, the State of Michigan authorized hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits for four companies that will establish operations in the state to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid electric vehicles.

On May 12, state tax credits were approved for LG Chem-Compact Power, Incorporated, the North American subsidiary of LG Chem of Seoul, South Korea.  The company will manufacture lithium-ion batteries for General Motors at a facility in Troy.

Incentives were approved earlier for the following Michigan projects:

• A123Systems, Incorporated of Watertown, Massachusetts will build the nation's first commercial-scale advanced battery manufacturing facility in Livonia.  A123 has an agreement to supply batteries to Chrysler.
• Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions, LLC will establish its first U.S. lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in Holland. The French-American partnership will provide batteries for a Ford plug-in electric vehicle.
• KD Advanced Battery Group, LLC will build an 800,000-square-foot facility in Midland to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for both electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The company is a joint venture between Dow Chemical Company, Kokam America, Incorporated, and Townsend Ventures, LLC.

Governor Jennifer Granholm signed legislation authorizing up to $335 million in tax credits in January, part of a state effort to attract companies that develop and manufacture advanced batteries. In April, an additional $220 million in tax credits were added.

To learn more, read the May 12 news release issued by Governor Jennifer Granholm's office, see a related story posted April 14 on mlive.com, and read another April 14 story posted online by Green Car Congress.

East Lansing, Michigan, Breaks New Ground with Building Standards

Municipally funded construction and renovation in the City of East Lansing, Michigan must meet new, green building standards as the result of City Council action in April.

The policy, which went into effect on April 30, requires that new municipal buildings of more than 5,000 square feet must attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design  (LEED™) silver certification. The LEED rating system is a standard for measuring green building design, construction, and operations. Ratings are made in a variety of categories; the highest designation is platinum.

For renovations to municipal facilities in East Lansing, the new policy states that LEED or similar building standards must be applied "to the greatest extent possible."  All private building projects and renovations that receive municipal incentives are required to meet specified standards, based on the percentage of project cost covered by the incentives.

For more information, read the April 21 news release issued by the City of East Lansing, Michigan.