In the Know

U.S. Battery Consortium Seeks $1B: Is It a Waste?

Lithium Battery production today can only survive where the upstream supply chain in well developed, the materials are abundant, cheap, and of high quality, and the methods for manufacture are a leap frog advance compared to how they are made today. The cost is mostly materials. Whoever has access to this flat out wins.

It doesn't matter if production facilities are built through this consortium, the 14 companies aren't bringing much difference from each other and they would all be forced to use the same process. Some of the companies in the list are only enabled to be on the list because they convinced some venture capitalist that they have a better mouse trap. This path only allows them to have some non-dilutive funding and not have to take risk from a capital standpoint because they can't figure out how to produce.

Political routes are also being sought, Indiana Senators vs Michigan Governors trying to get billions of dollars moving through their states. I say let free capitalism work and if something has to be subsidized, focus on the raw material supply. Also, I have to emphasize again, government should focus on creating a healthy environment for this business to succeed in the US.

Comparing semiconductor technology to battery technology to me is like comparing a statue vs a human being. Both have advanced material engineering but one is static and one is active. This business need to be approached like a NASA or Nuclear Power Plant project vs a project like a Volt.



On Dec 19 12:15 AM jlounsbury59 wrote:

> When I compare (and I have in other comments and will not repeat
> the details here) semiconductor technology to battery technology,
> I see batteries no further developed than electronics were in the
> early 1960's. At best we are in the sorting out process for battery
> technology similar to when we were debating the relative merits of
> vacuum tubes and transistors.
>
> There have been some excellent articles (and associated discussion
> comments) by John Petersen on this subject on Seeking Alpha.