Biden Announces $2.4 Billion Grant for Auto Batteries

To get away from the whole gas guzzler stigma, U.S. automakers wanted money to build battery-powered cars, and the Obama administration was happy to oblige by announcing $2.4 billion in grants for electric cars. The ailing major auto companies were big winners, with GM netting $250 million, Ford getting $92.7 million partly for an electric-drive parts facility in Michigan and Chrysler getting $70 million to work on hybrid pick-ups and minivans. The government also plans to subsidize more electric charging stations. Not everyone’s happy about the news. Smaller companies who lost out on funding argued that they’re the real innovators, and that a lot of the grant money could end up in foreign pockets. Compact Power, for instance, received $151.4 million to make lithium-ion battery components for the Chevy Volt, but the company is a unit of South Korea’s LG Chem. Whoops! [Wall Street Journal Via Engadget, Image]