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Obama says electric car battery prices to tumble
Obama sees price of EV batteries down by 70 percent
By Bernie Woodall
HOLLAND, Michigan, July 15 (Reuters) - The cost of the high-powered batteries needed for a coming wave of electric cars is projected to drop by as much as 70 percent over the next five years, according to a U.S. government forecast.
The forecast was released as President Barack Obama attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a battery plant being built in Holland, Michigan by a U.S. unit of South Korea's LG Chem(051910.KS) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Obama administration has provided more than $5 billion in grants and low-cost loans to battery manufacturers and auto companies to support projects intended to spur the development and sale of rechargeable electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
But the high cost of the lithium-ion batteries to power those vehicles has been seen as one of the biggest barriers to their widespread adoption.
The U.S. government had never set a target for the kinds of cost reductions it expected to see in the fast-developing industry it is attempting to jump-start with taxpayer funding.
"Because of advances in the manufacture of these batteries, their costs are expected to come down by nearly 70 percent in the next few years. That's going to make electric and hybrid cars and trucks more affordable for more Americans," Obama told an audience of politicians, business leaders and representatives of the 300 workers building the new plant.
The battery price declines projected by the Obama administration, which has set a target of putting 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015, run deeper and faster than most forecasts by outside analysts.
LG Chem Chief Executive Bahnsuk Kim told Reuters his company sees a 50 percent drop in battery prices by 2015, and he expected that would be enough to drive increased demand.
"In the next five years we see the prices in half. Our target is half," Kim said on the sidelines of the Holland, Michigan event.
In the terms tracked by the emerging electric vehicle industry, the Department of Energy said it expected battery costs per kilowatt hour to drop from about $1,000 in 2009 to $300 in 2015 and $100 in 2030.
Obama sees price of EV batteries down by 70 percent
By Bernie Woodall
HOLLAND, Michigan, July 15 (Reuters) - The cost of the high-powered batteries needed for a coming wave of electric cars is projected to drop by as much as 70 percent over the next five years, according to a U.S. government forecast.
The forecast was released as President Barack Obama attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a battery plant being built in Holland, Michigan by a U.S. unit of South Korea's LG Chem(051910.KS) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Obama administration has provided more than $5 billion in grants and low-cost loans to battery manufacturers and auto companies to support projects intended to spur the development and sale of rechargeable electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
But the high cost of the lithium-ion batteries to power those vehicles has been seen as one of the biggest barriers to their widespread adoption.
The U.S. government had never set a target for the kinds of cost reductions it expected to see in the fast-developing industry it is attempting to jump-start with taxpayer funding.
"Because of advances in the manufacture of these batteries, their costs are expected to come down by nearly 70 percent in the next few years. That's going to make electric and hybrid cars and trucks more affordable for more Americans," Obama told an audience of politicians, business leaders and representatives of the 300 workers building the new plant.
The battery price declines projected by the Obama administration, which has set a target of putting 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015, run deeper and faster than most forecasts by outside analysts.
LG Chem Chief Executive Bahnsuk Kim told Reuters his company sees a 50 percent drop in battery prices by 2015, and he expected that would be enough to drive increased demand.
"In the next five years we see the prices in half. Our target is half," Kim said on the sidelines of the Holland, Michigan event.
In the terms tracked by the emerging electric vehicle industry, the Department of Energy said it expected battery costs per kilowatt hour to drop from about $1,000 in 2009 to $300 in 2015 and $100 in 2030.
