Tom Gantert:
Last week, the Detroit Free Press concluded that the massive giveaway of state tax dollars to electric vehicle battery makers failed to generate the thousands of jobs that were promised.
In particular, a March 16 article notedthat, “today, Michigan has only a few hundred battery workers in four plants — despite $861 million in Obama administration stimulus grants and $543 million in Michigan tax credits awarded by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration in 2009.”
Readers of Michigan Capitol Confidential are not surprised by this news given that the failures of the electric vehicle battery industry in Michigan have been chronicled by this news service for years. Yet, it is good news for taxpayers that other media outlets now are paying attention.
Former Gov. Granholm described the battery industry as a “new Michigan economy” where the state would become the center for advanced battery production.
It didn’t happen.
The state and federal government awarded more than $1.4 billion in tax credits and direct subsidies to four companies — A123 Systems, Dow Kokam, Johnson Controls and L.G. Chem. Nearly $600 million in federal money alone was spent. Three of the companies went bankrupt and all have missed their job projections by a long shot.
About 6,826 jobs were predicted, according to information in the Free Press article. The four companies have about 575 total employees today, less than a tenth of what was projected.
Perhaps “green” industries means something different to some.
Bernie Madoff would be proud.
The problem is that a practical battery or other power source for an electric car is still waiting to be invented. It makes no sense to back a manufacturing operation until that issue is solved. Everything else in an electric car is off-the-shelf technology.