Ind. car plant receives grant money, Biden visit

One day after the Jan. 25 State of the Union address, Vice President Joe Biden, chair of the Middle Class Task Force, visited the lithium-ion battery systems manufacturer Ener1, Inc. in Greenfield, Ind.

As part of the “White House to Main Street Tours,” Biden took a tour of the plant and then spoke to an audience of 336 workers and invited guests at 11:45 a.m.

“It was a great honor to be selected by the vice president,” said Brian Sinderson,, director of corporate communications  of Ener1.  

The vice president spoke of the United States’ continued commitment to the advanced vehicle industry.

“As the president said last night, by 2015 we will have one million electric vehicles on the road,” Biden said in a press release, referring to President Obama’s State of the Union Address. “Once America has set a goal as a nation, we have never, never not achieved it.”

Ener1 received a $118.5 million grant from the U.S. government’s $2.4 billion Recovery Act in 2009 to expand its production of hybrid and electric vehicles. The company was required to match the $118.5 million before receiving the grant.

The grant allowed Ener1 to disperse more than 100 jobs amongst the three Indianapolis-area plants: Indianapolis, Noblesville and Greenfield in 2010.

Also, the grant is projected to create up to 1,400 jobs in manufacturing and engineering by 2013 among the three plants in Central Indiana if federal loans and enough high-power battery orders come through.

“In general when a government gives a subsidy it works out pretty well,” said David Greene, clinical professor of the Kelley School of Business. “The company and government are making a bet that electric cars are a good thing that consumers will want to buy.”

Ener1 is an energy technology company that, along with producing lithium-ion battery packs for electric car makers such as Volvo and TH!NK ,a company with a plant in Elkhart, Ind., manufactures commercial fuel cell products and electric vehicle drivetrain
products.

Sinderson said the grant has already helped the Greenfield plant build two new assembly lines and will allow them to purchase additional testing equipment for the plant.

“As the market increases this coming year, we’ll be able to expand,” Sinderson said.