On Monday, GM announced that it would build a special plant in the U.S. just to assemble the battery for the Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle, due out late next year.
In addition, GM will open its own 30,000-square-foot battery research center and enter a research partnership with the University of Michigan.
"The supply, design and construction of batteries must be a core competency of GM," Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said as he announced the plans.
For the time being, GM will use a South Korean supplier, LG Chem Ltd., to make the lithium ion cells at the heart of the Volt battery, but the automaker plans to develop its own technology in the future. "GM is getting back in the battery business," Wagoner said.
The news prompted Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to call for federal grants and government programs to help speed battery development on these shores.
"We must be in the position to produce the essential components in the U.S. and not rely on advanced technology and critical building blocks produced elsewhere," Levin said.
Toyota is ahead of the game. The automaker is betting heavily on its hybrid system, which runs partially on batteries, and has plans to incorporate the technology across its lineup in the near future.
Like several other Asian carmakers, Toyota has a stake in a battery plant. It owns 60% of Panasonic EV Energy Co., a joint venture that makes batteries for cars such as the Prius and is developing advanced batteries for plug-in hybrids and a line of tiny city cars with a limited range that Toyota announced this week.
Masatami Takimoto, executive vice president in charge of R&D at Toyota, said the company was aware of the threat of losing control of the industry to battery makers, as well as companies that make the technology used to integrate the battery with the car's drive system -- essentially software.
"I think that possibility exists," Takimoto said. "Preventing that is the way for automakers to survive."
To do that, he contends, car companies must build up battery expertise even as they continue to hold the lead in the technology of brakes, dashboards and, yes, internal combustion engines, which he says aren't dead yet.
Not all companies agree with the carmaker-as-battery-maker strategy, however. Ford on Sunday said it was developing a mid-size battery-powered vehicle for sale in the U.S. in 2011, as well as a plug-in hybrid for 2012. But unlike GM or Toyota, Ford has no plans to develop the battery itself. Instead, it's handing those duties over to Magna International Inc., a supplier in Aurora, Canada.
"In an environment where there are limited resources, our argument is why don't we work with people that already have the technology in hand?" said Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas. He said the company would not develop its own batteries.
Alexander Edwards, head of auto analysis for consulting firm Strategic Vision Inc., believes that such a plan carries less risk. By shifting attention to batteries, he said, "GM and others might be locking themselves too much into one solution rather than keeping open to various solutions," he said.
Battery makers appear to see things in a different light. Peter Bahn-suk Kim, chief executive of LG Chem, GM's partner in battery development, cracked a big smile when discussing the future of the automotive battery industry.
"This is a very good opportunity for profit growth," he said. "In the future, we may make these batteries in the United States."
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ken.bensinger@latimes.com
