Ener1 enters bankruptcy with cooperation of stakeholders, plans restructuring

Battery manufacturer Ener1 has been struggling for months, and their problems have been well known since last summer.  Yet when the company entered bankruptcy proceedings last week, on the day after Obama's State of the Union Address, in which he praised the battery and green tech companies like Ener1, we predictably see a chorus of negativity from the Republican Purveyors of Hate Against Obama.  They're trying to slander Ener1's bankruptcy with the same negative slant they've painted upon the failure of Solyndra, and by tying Ener1 to Solyndra they hope to drag the Obama green tech vision further down.

This time however they don't have a leg to stand on.  Yes, Ener1 received government loans and grants.  Yes, they entered bankruptcy.  Yes, they're a green tech company supplying components for the electric vehicle industry.  But the conditions of this deal are different than the conditions of Solyndra, which went straight into liquidation very suddenly.

Ener1's story is that they at one time were slated to supply batteries to both Fisker Automotive and Think Global for their respective electric cars.  However Fisker backed away from an arrangement with Ener1, choosing instead to buy batteries from A123 Systems.  In the meantime Ener1 bought a large stake in Think, and at the same time Think became a large customer of Ener1.  As time proceeded Think received much funding from a diverse investor group.  They moved to set up manufacturing operations in Indiana, near the plants owned by Ener1.  But as time moved on Think went into bankruptcy, again (the company has a habit of doing this).  Ener1's stake in that company was wiped out and later Think was bought by a Russian investor.  A few months later Ener1 was late in filing their SEC reports, and then later told the SEC they'd have to restate their earnings reports for the previous couple years, and this resulted in Ener1's stock being delisted.

Hence Ener1's failure is because they counted on Think's survival and that Think would go to producing electric cars while buying batteries from Ener1.  Think failed at that plan, and Ener1 ran into serious business trouble.

Is this a consequence of the Government giving them loans and grants?  Nope.  But to hear the Republicans talk about it this habit of handing out loans and grants is the worst thing any government could be doing.

In any case, Ener1's investor group is on-board with a rescue and restructuring plan that involves injecting nearly $100 million to recapitalize the company and get it going again.

Hardly sounds like a company about to sink beneath the waves, and hardly sounds like a company whose investors see as too risky.

So why are Republican's slamming this event that is capitalism in operation?  Investors taking risks on buying into a company to see it grow into success?





Ener1 enters bankruptcy with cooperation of stakeholders, plans restructuring

Ener1 critics sing from Solyndra songbook


Ener1, Obama-backed electric car battery company, files for bankruptcy

Ener1 Is No Solyndra

Ener1 Wins Approval of $13.5 Million Bankruptcy Financing
Battery maker Ener1 in Chapter 11 despite U.S. grant

Ener1's Failure Slammed By Republicans Despite GOP Support Of The Company 

Ener1, Inc. Reaches Agreement With Primary Investors and Lenders on Plan to Reduce Debt and Secure New Equity Funding to Support Its Long-term Business Strategy

NHTSA Statement on Conclusion of Chevy Volt Investigation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2012
Contact: Lynda Tran, 202-366-9550


WASHINGTON, DC — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the following statement today regarding the conclusion of its safety defect investigation into the post-crash fire risk of Chevy Volts (PE11037):

Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed its safety defect investigation into the potential risk of fire in Chevy Volts that have been involved in a serious crash. Opened on November 25, the agency’s investigation has concluded that no discernible defect trend exists and that the vehicle modifications recently developed by General Motors reduce the potential for battery intrusion resulting from side impacts.

NHTSA remains unaware of any real-world crashes that have resulted in a battery-related fire involving the Chevy Volt or any other electric vehicle. NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles show great promise as a safe and fuel-efficient option for American drivers. However, as the reports released in conjunction with the closure of the investigation today indicate, fires following NHTSA crash tests of the vehicle and its battery components — and the innovative nature of this emerging technology — led the agency to take the unusual step of opening a safety defect investigation in the absence of data from real-world incidents.

Based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles. Generally all vehicles have some risk of fire in the event of a serious crash. However, electric vehicles have specific attributes that should be made clear to consumers, the emergency response community, and tow truck operators and storage facilities. Recognizing these considerations, NHTSA has developed interim guidance — with the assistance of the National Fire Protection Association, the Department of Energy, and others — to increase awareness and identify appropriate safety measures for these groups. The agency expects this guidance will help inform the ongoing work by NFPA, DOE, and vehicle manufacturers to educate the emergency response community, law enforcement officers, and others about electric vehicles.

For additional information on the Volt investigation and others, visit www.SaferCar.gov.

Akerson Testifies in Congress on Chevrolet Volt Safety

The following is the testimony by GM's Chairman Dan Akerson, for the video see:
http://blog.greentransportation.info/2012/01/volt-vehicle-fire-what-did-nhtsa-know.html

DETROIT – General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson testified Wednesday before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending on the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's formal investigation into post-crash test fires in Volt batteries and closing of a NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation.

Good morning and thank you Chairman Jordan and Ranking Members Cummings and Kucinich.  I welcome the opportunity to testify today and stand behind a car that all of us at GM are proud of.
Please allow me to start with some Volt history:

GM unveiled the Volt concept at the January 2007 Detroit Auto Show.  In June of 2008, the “old GM’s” Board of Directors approved the Volt project for production well before the bankruptcy and infusion of government funds.

The battery story goes back much farther to the early 1990s with GM’s extensive work on the EV1.
Drawing on that experience, we engineered the Volt to be a winner on the road and in customers' hearts.

Today, I'm proud to say the Volt is performing exactly as we engineered it...

            ...In its first year, Volt garnered the Triple Crown of industry awards: Motor Trend Car of the Year; Automobile Magazine's Automobile of the Year; and, North American Car of the Year;

            ...Volt is among the safest cars on the road – earning 5 Stars for occupant safety and a Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety;

            ...And, 93 percent of Volt owners report the highest customer satisfaction with their car -- more than any other vehicle and the highest ever recorded in the industry.

Beyond the accolades, the Volt's importance to GM and our country's long term prospects is far reaching.

We engineered Volt to be the only EV that you can drive across town or across the country without fear of being stranded when the battery power is drained.

You can go 35 miles, and in some cases much more, on a single charge... which for 80 percent of American drivers is their total driving range.

After that, a small gas engine extends your range to 375 miles before you have to recharge or re-fill.
But, if the Volt message boards are any indication, there's some real one-upmanship going on out there – with customers reporting going months and thousands of miles without stopping once at a gas pump.

No other current EV can do this or 'generate' that much passion with its drivers.

We engineered Volt to give drivers a choice— to use energy produced in the United States rather than oil from places that may not always put America’s best interests first.

And, we engineered Volt to show the world what great vehicles we make at General Motors.
Unfortunately, there is one thing we did not engineer.  Although we loaded the Volt with state-of-the-art safety features -- we did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag.

And that, sadly, is what it’s become.

For all of the loose talk about fires, we are here today because tests by regulators resulted in battery fires under lab conditions that no driver would experience in the real world.

In fact, Volt customers have driven over 25 million miles without a single, similar incident.

In one test, the fire occurred seven days after a simulated crash.  In another, it took three weeks after the test.  Not three minutes.  Not three hours.  Not three days.  Three weeks.

Based on those test results, did we think there was an imminent safety risk?  No.

Or, as one of our customers put it:  if they couldn’t cut him out of the vehicle in two or three weeks, he had a bigger problem to worry about.

However, given those test results, GM had a choice on how we would react.  It was an easy call.

We put our customers first.  We moved fast and with great transparency to engineer a solution.

We contacted every Volt owner and offered them a loaner car until the issue was settled.  And if that wasn’t enough, we offered to buy the car back.

We assembled a team of engineers who worked non-stop to develop a modest enhancement to the battery system to address the issue.

We’ll begin adding the enhancement on the line and in customers’ cars in a few weeks.
And in doing so, we took a 5-star rated vehicle and made it even safer.

Nonetheless, these recent events have cast an undeserved, damaging light on a promising new American technology that we are exporting around the world, right from Detroit.

As the Wall Street Journal wrote in its Volt review:  We should suspend our rancor and savor a little American pride. A bunch of Midwestern engineers in bad haircuts and cheap wristwatches just out-engineered every other car company on the planet.

The Volt is safe.  It's a marvelous machine. It represents so much of what is right about General Motors and, frankly, about American ingenuity and manufacturing.

I look forward to taking your questions.

Thank you

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets.  GM’s brands include Chevrolet and Cadillac, as well as Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.

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Volt Vehicle Fire: What Did NHTSA Know & When Did They Know It?

The video recording of the House Oversight Committee on the Chevy Volt fire reported on here: GM's Akerson says Chevy Volt not designed to be a political punching bag

GM Faces Task of Rebuilding Volt Image After NHTSA Probe Ends

GM now has the task of repairing their image after the NHTSA closed the investigation into the Chevy Volt battery fire last summer.

GM Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson and David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are scheduled to testify Jan. 25 before a panel of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform committee. The panel is probing the response to a June 6 fire in a Volt three weeks after the car was crash-tested.

“It’s not unlike a story that’s written that says somebody has committed a murder, and the next day they say, ‘Oh they didn’t, sorry,’” said Alan Baum, principal of Baum & Associates


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/gm-faces-task-of-rebuilding-volt-image-after-nhtsa-probe-ends.html

For dying Orange County activist, Doug Korthof, an electric car rally

Doug Korthof has been involved with environmental activism for many years.  He's best known for his electric vehicle activism, and appeared in the movie Who Killed the Electric Car. 

The friends of a Seal Beach environmental activist suffering from terminal lung cancer filled a Los Alamitos home Sunday with memories of his vigorous campaigns, fiery emails and torrent of ideas -- along with a powerful sense of triumph.


http://www.ocregister.com/news/-336870--.html

A look at the electric cars coming in 2012

The Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt were just the beginning, we take a look at the electric cars coming in 2012.

A look at the electric cars coming in 2012