January 14, 2009 - Jennifer Granholm at Detroit Auto Show, Detroit MI

Jennifer Granholm signs and promotes battery legislation at auto show

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm toured the Detroit auto show this morning before signing into law legislation that provides up to $335 million tax credits over five years to companies developing and manufacturing advanced batteries in Michigan.

The governor stopped at booths by Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC — among others — to pitch the tax credits and encourage battery development in the state.

“The bill that I’m signing today is a bill that’s really going to put Michigan in the front of not just states, we hope other countries as well, with respect to next-generation battery technology, manufacturing and assembly,” Granholm, a Democrat, said. “We’re very excited about putting such an aggressive incentive in place to be able to attract the jobs that are associated with the vehicles that you see here at the auto show.”

Granholm said recent announcements by A123 Systems last week to build a battery factory in southeast Michigan and by GM earlier this week that it will assembly battery packs somewhere in the state would not have occurred without passage of the new state tax incentives.

James Epolito, president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said a growing battery industry in Michigan could create more than 50,000 jobs.

The governor arrived at the show in Ford’s demonstration battery electric vehicle built on the Ford Focus platform.

“It was unbelievable. … One charge gets you a hundred miles. Totally fun to drive,” she said.

As she walked through the show, she oohed and awed at the various vehicles, calling the Dodge Circuit “sassy” and saying how her children love the new Chevrolet Spark.

At one point, she detoured from the tour to climb up on a stage displaying the Chevrolet Volt and jumped inside.

GM’s announcement earlier this week about assembling battery packs in Michigan was an important development for the Volt, which is an electric drive vehicle that is suppose to hit the market late next year.

The legislation signed into law today, House Bill 6611, authorizes the Michigan Economic Growth Authority to provide refundable tax credits for:

• The research, development and manufacturing of battery packs used in electric vehicles.
• Vehicle engineering for battery integration.
• Advanced automotive battery technology engineering.
• Construction of integrated battery cell manufacturing facilities.

Original Story - Detroit Free Press