Nissan Leaf

Can Taxpayer-Subsidized Battery Maker A123 Survive?

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Tue, 03/06/2012 - 11:26

The taxpayer-funded ($279 million) battery supplier that gave big raises and parachutes to its executives shortly after it cut “Green jobs” at its Michigan factories, reported last week it would suffer big losses again for 2011.

A123 Systems, whose fortunes were entwined with those of electric vehicle startup manufacturer Fisker Automotive, also announced it would look to China and India in order to survive.

GM-Funded EV Company Gives Up on DOE Loan, Ends Operations

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Mon, 03/05/2012 - 11:03

bright automotive

In administrating its stimulus-fed loan and grants programs, the Department of Energy has been accused of incompetence, carelessness, recklessness, and cronyism. Now it can add inconsistency to those distinguishing characteristics.

Surprise! Another DOE Solar 'Bet' Produces Green Job Losses

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Thu, 03/01/2012 - 10:16

Yet another solar company that received loan guarantees from the Department of Energy has dismissed factory workers, lopping off 70 percent of its U.S. employees. Loveland, Colo.-based Abound Solar announced Tuesday it would lay off 280 workers at its production plant near Longmont, leaving 120 still employed. The start-up (2009) company attributed the cutbacks to the need for upgrades at the plant to manufacture more efficient solar panels, with plans to restore production levels and rehire most employees within six to nine months.

Will DOE’s Fisker Doubts Take Down Its Battery Supplier Too?

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 02/10/2012 - 10:55

After luxury electric automaker Fisker announced 65 layoffs and a work stoppage from the refurbishment of a former General Motors plant in Delaware earlier this week, NLPC wondered whether its battery supplier and business partner A123 Systems would be harmed also.

Now Wall Street analysts are wondering the same thing, and the beleaguered lenders at the Department of Energy must be deeply concerned about what they will do next. As Forbes reported yesterday, the close ties between the two speculative companies could produce “two Solyndras for the price of one."

Dismal Outlook for EVs on Both Sides of the Atlantic

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Thu, 01/19/2012 - 00:26

Nissan Leaf photo For electric vehicle enthusiasts with the “if you build it, they will come” mentality, who endorse endless taxpayer subsidies for plug-in automobiles and infrastructure to charge them, there’s bad news this week.

Energy Dept. Makes More Bad Bets with Taxpayer Money

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 01/13/2012 - 07:43

Chu photo As the U.S. government Venture Capitalist-in-Chief (and President) Barack Obama and his Department of Energy investment guru (and Energy Secretary) Steven Chu pour other peoples’ money into their favorite “clean” technology schemes, private backers appear to be following them off the cliff, “as publicly traded battery makers watched their stocks tank and their businesses stumble,” according to a Dow Jones report late last month.

Russian Oligarch Tries to Cash In on Obama's Crony Capitalism

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 09:32

Alexi Mordash The Department of Energy announced on Friday it would not complete a low-interest, $730 million loan to Severstal North America, after it had given the company a conditional commitment in July under its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program.

DOE gave no reason for its disapproval of the loan, but it had come under scrutiny about its judgment after the collapse of solar company Solyndra, which was lent $535 million in taxpayer dollars.

Taxpayers' Leaf: Four Recharging Stops Needed to Go 180 Miles

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Tue, 01/03/2012 - 07:38

Nissan Leaf photo Consumer Reports has painted an ugly picture of the Nissan Leaf, as did an early enthusiast based in Los Angeles, who described his frustrations with the heavily subsidized, all-electric car in a recent column.

Now comes what must be the definitive example of the Leaf’s impracticality – this time from a (still) hard-core advocate, whose 180-mile Tennessee trek to visit family over the holidays required four lengthy stops to keep the vehicle moving.

Taxpayer-Funded Green Job Losses Easy as A123

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 12/02/2011 - 09:40

It’s another day, and another round of layoffs by a recipient of millions of dollars under the Obama Administration’s renewable energy initiatives, administered by the mismanaged Department of Energy.

This time the Recovery Act largesse – taken out of the hide of taxpayers – went to A123 Systems, Inc. The Massachusetts-based energy storage company was given $249.1 million to help launch two battery-manufacturing plants in Michigan. A123 also received grants and tax credits from the state that could total more than $135 million. In a separate federal grant as a subcontractor for another grantee, A123 received nearly $30 million for a wind energy storage project.

Taxpayer-Subsidized Electric Vehicles Disappoint Consumers (Except Jay Leno)

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 10:24

Jay Leno and Volt Last week NLPC reported about a Consumer Reports reviewer’s unpleasant experience driving the all-electric Nissan Leaf. Despite Liza Barth’s frequent range anxiety and endurance of freezing temperatures so as to avoid using the Leaf’s heater to preserve its power, she declined to give it a “thumbs down.” Instead, she seemed to chalk up the inconveniences (like “numb fingers and toes”) to her own inability to adapt to new technology, rather than calling the electric vehicle what it really is: a failure that is massively subsidized by taxpayers.