Tuesday, August 26, 2008 7:31:05 AM
Grand plans of EnerDel could rev an industry August 26, 2008
If it does, 850 Hoosiers will have good jobs. Indiana will be at the center of electric vehicle production in the world. Gasoline will be on the way to passe.
That's asking a lot for an industry with far more questions than answers.
Here's why:
EnerDel, with 100 people working at a research and development site on the Northeastside, has an order for $70 million worth of lithium-ion battery packs from electric carmaker Think Global. At best, that's about 5,000 of the fully configured 600-pound packs.
Plans unveiled last week by Gov. Mitch Daniels and EnerDel President Ulrik Grape call for a new plant in Noblesville. EnerDel plans to hire about 280 people in the expansion that will boost its production capacity to 300,000 battery packs a year.
Think and EnerDel look to be among the first to market with a plug-in electric vehicle, but it's expecting a lot to think they will quickly take a 300,000-vehicle slice out of the market. Or even that the collaboration will work.
After all, Think has contracts with two other battery makers.
Think will have to sell a lot of electric cars before EnerDel soaks up its excess capacity. It's hard to believe EnerDel will build the third plant promised for Indiana until that capacity is nearly absorbed.
That's especially true for a market that still is finding its way. There will be just 1 million hybrid and plug-in electric units built a year by 2013, according to CMW Marketing Research.
At last week's news conference, Daniels, Grape and others expressed confidence the market will develop. Still, the bulk of the promised jobs hinge on a market that doesn't yet exist taking off on a nearly vertical growth line.
That's why it's a lot to ask.
It could happen
Despite the long shot, there is logic to the notion that Indiana could play an important role in developing electric vehicles.
The "Del" in EnerDel is Delphi, which has a history of developing and manufacturing automotive electronics in Indiana. A unit of Delphi was the soul of General Motors' first stab at an electric vehicle, the EV-1, that was scrapped four years ago.
EnerDel is housed in the building where much of that research occurred, and many of the people working on the lithium-ion product are ex-Delphi employees. That deep pool of talent also powers Altair Nanotechnologies, the Anderson company working on lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.
Indiana's two entries in the lithium-ion sweepstakes give it a chance at the next plum in the electric-car effort -- an assembly plant. "The best talent in the United States is here," said Nate Feltman, head of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
The trick, of course, is to create the market that drives the industry.
Catch John Ketzenberger on WTHR's 6:30 a.m. news every Tuesday and Thursday. He can be reached at (317) 444-6081 or at john.ketzenberger@indystar.com.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080826/BUSINESS07/808260331/1104/BUSINESS07
If it does, 850 Hoosiers will have good jobs. Indiana will be at the center of electric vehicle production in the world. Gasoline will be on the way to passe.
That's asking a lot for an industry with far more questions than answers.
Here's why:
EnerDel, with 100 people working at a research and development site on the Northeastside, has an order for $70 million worth of lithium-ion battery packs from electric carmaker Think Global. At best, that's about 5,000 of the fully configured 600-pound packs.
Plans unveiled last week by Gov. Mitch Daniels and EnerDel President Ulrik Grape call for a new plant in Noblesville. EnerDel plans to hire about 280 people in the expansion that will boost its production capacity to 300,000 battery packs a year.
Think and EnerDel look to be among the first to market with a plug-in electric vehicle, but it's expecting a lot to think they will quickly take a 300,000-vehicle slice out of the market. Or even that the collaboration will work.
After all, Think has contracts with two other battery makers.
Think will have to sell a lot of electric cars before EnerDel soaks up its excess capacity. It's hard to believe EnerDel will build the third plant promised for Indiana until that capacity is nearly absorbed.
That's especially true for a market that still is finding its way. There will be just 1 million hybrid and plug-in electric units built a year by 2013, according to CMW Marketing Research.
At last week's news conference, Daniels, Grape and others expressed confidence the market will develop. Still, the bulk of the promised jobs hinge on a market that doesn't yet exist taking off on a nearly vertical growth line.
That's why it's a lot to ask.
It could happen
Despite the long shot, there is logic to the notion that Indiana could play an important role in developing electric vehicles.
The "Del" in EnerDel is Delphi, which has a history of developing and manufacturing automotive electronics in Indiana. A unit of Delphi was the soul of General Motors' first stab at an electric vehicle, the EV-1, that was scrapped four years ago.
EnerDel is housed in the building where much of that research occurred, and many of the people working on the lithium-ion product are ex-Delphi employees. That deep pool of talent also powers Altair Nanotechnologies, the Anderson company working on lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.
Indiana's two entries in the lithium-ion sweepstakes give it a chance at the next plum in the electric-car effort -- an assembly plant. "The best talent in the United States is here," said Nate Feltman, head of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
The trick, of course, is to create the market that drives the industry.
Catch John Ketzenberger on WTHR's 6:30 a.m. news every Tuesday and Thursday. He can be reached at (317) 444-6081 or at john.ketzenberger@indystar.com.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080826/BUSINESS07/808260331/1104/BUSINESS07
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