John Petersen

Better Lithium-Ion Battery Plays than A123 Systems

You'll note that the two common denominators in the recommended firms are China and commodity batteries. None are working on the same class of large format high safety devices as A123 and none offer a bit of national security advantage to the U.S., and make no mistake about the national security implications because they are immense. In fact, they're the biggest reason for the administration's drive to build a domestic battery industry. A123s initial manufacturing was in Asia, but it looks like all of its planned expansion will be domestic. Any time a company can combine $400 million from investors and a like amount from grants, I have to like the risk profile.