By Scott Smith, Kokomo Tribune staff writer
scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
WAKARUSA - President Barack Obama effectively designated Indiana as the center of a massive federal investment in electric vehicle technology Wednesday.
Standing before a prototype electric delivery truck in Navistar's Wakarusa plant, the president announced he'll dedicate $2.4 billion from the federal stimulus package toward developing and manufacturing electric vehicles in the United States.
Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, Kokomo, was one of six Indiana companies designated to share almost $400 million of the grant funding, a fact that apparently took even Delphi officials by surprise.
U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger, received word of the pending Delphi announcement Wednesday morning, shortly before the president's noon speech in Wakarusa.
Donnelly, who voted in favor of the $787 billion stimulus package, said the grant could be the beginning of a renaissance at Delphi, which has shed thousands of local jobs this decade.
"I voted for the stimulus, and this is why I voted for it. All the folks who say nothing's happening ... now $90 million has come to Kokomo for long-term growth," Donnelly said.
"We've seen Chrysler come through so much in the last month or two, and now they're back producing because they don't have a car left on the lot to sell," Donnelly said. "I'm just really excited about this development. It just further affirms the greatness of Kokomo."
The news took everyone by surprise Wednesday, except, perhaps for select Obama cabinet members and Department of Energy staffers, who spread out across the country to announce the grants.
The president's Wakarusa announcement ended months of speculation regarding how he would pursue electric vehicle technology.
"We are committed to making sure America leads in the design and manufacture of next-generation vehicles," Obama told an audience of about 300 at the Navistar plant.
"I don't want to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and then be dependent on their innovations," Obama said.
Mixing another energy technology into his speech, Obama added "I don't want to import a windmill from someplace else; I want to build a windmill right here in Indiana."
Paul Mitchell, president and CEO of Energy Systems Network, an Indianapolis firm that has helped several of the grant recipients form a loose Indiana-based coalition, said "this is absolutely huge for the state of Indiana."
"It solidifies Delphi, which has been the leader in innovation of vehicle electronics, as the future leader in advanced vehicle electronics," Mitchell said.
Delphi spokesman Lindsey C. Williams said that while the details of the grant haven't yet been established, the grant "further validates our efforts to accelerate the application of electric drive technology."
Williams said the company's grant application focused on Delphi's expertise in quick, efficient process design, and in creating "lean, cost-effective manufacturing processes that are easily expandable to meet rapid increases in demand."
Mitchell said Delphi already has a lead role in the U.S. in manufacturing the "guts" of electric vehicle powertrains - inverters, converters and energy storage systems.
Mitchell, whose firm includes Delphi Electronics & Safety president Jeff Owens on its board, said the grant money allows Delphi to tackle overseas competition, particularly from Asia.
But another aspect of the White House announcement - and Delphi's specific grant - was the president's focus on commercial vehicles.
Four of the Indiana grant recipients, Navistar, Allison, Remy and Delphi, have all been involved in the Hoosier Heavy Hybrid Initiative, a working group aimed at bringing medium- and heavy-duty hybrid vehicles to market.
"Trucks are the primary consumers of oil," Mitchell said.
The White House announcement, he said, "recognizes that it's not just going to be small Toyota Priuses, that we need to drive hybrid trucks ... that we need more fuel-efficient vehicles across the spectrum."
Mitch Roob, director of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., said the fact so much of the funding was directed to Indiana was no accident.
"We've got great people who have spent years in the wilderness, and finally, the market is catching up," Roob said. "We've got a group of companies who've really led the nation, and at times have been world leaders in terms of battery development ... this is recognition of their toil over the years."
From the famously scrapped Delphi/GM "EV-1" electric vehicle platform to more recent innovations, Indiana has more than its fair share of engineers deeply involved in the field, Roob said.
"These aren't folks who just woke up last year and said 'Let's make a battery-powered car," Roob said.
Another major Indiana grant recipient was EnerDel Inc., Indianapolis, which won a $118.5 million grant to produce lithium-ion cells and packs for hybrid and electric vehicles.
When EnerDel was formed in 2004, Delphi Corp. owned 19.5 percent of the company. That interest has since been sold, but a relationship still exists. As recently as last year, talks were still continuing between EnerDel and Kokomo over the possibility of utilizing some of Delphi's excess manufacturing space
Besides EnerDel, grants will go to Kokomo-based Delphi Automotive Systems LLC ($89.3 million), Indianapolis-based Allison Transmission ($62.8 million), Anderson-based Remy Inc. ($60.2 million).
In addition, Michigan-based Magna E-Car Systems of America Inc., which has a manufacturing plant in Muncie, got $40 million, and Illinois-based Navistar received $39.2 million. Another $6.1 million will go to a consortium of Indiana universities to develop new curriculums and programs.
The grants are all matching grants, although its unclear whether prior investments by the grant recipients will be counted toward the dollar-for-dollar match.
U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said the fight for the funding was "one of the most critical fights I have waged since I was re-elected to the Senate," and said the $2.4 billion technology investment will match some of the resources Asian countries have pushed into the emerging electric and hybrid vehicle technology.
"Today, it is official: Indiana has become the Silicon Valley of next-generation vehicles," Bayh said.