Ares
26th January 2012, 09:57 AM
Remember that one keyword that oddly enough never made it's way into the president's largely recycled SOTU address - "Solyndra"? It is about to make a double or nothing repeat appearance, now that Ener1, another company that was backed by Obama, this time a electric car battery-maker, has filed for bankruptcy. Net result: taxpayers lose $118.5 million. The irony is that while Solyndra may have been missing from the SOTU, Ener1 made an indirect appearance: "In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries." Uh, no. Actually, the correct phrasing is: "...positioned America to be the world's leading manufacturer of insolvent, bloated subsidized entities that are proof central planning at any level does not work but we can keep doing the same idiocy over and over hoping the final result will actually be different eventually." We can't wait to find out just which of Obama's handlers was may have been responsible for this latest gross capital misallocation. In the meantime, the 1,700 jobs "created" with the fake creation of Ener1, have just been lost.
From The Hill:
An Indiana-based energy-storage company that received a $118.5 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department filed for bankruptcy Thursday.
Ener1 is asking a federal bankruptcy court in New York to approve a plan to restructure the company’s debt and infuse $81 million in equity funding.
“This was a difficult, but necessary, decision for our company,” Ener1 CEO Alex Sorokin said in a news release. “We are extremely pleased to have the strong support of our primary investors and lenders to substantially reduce the company’s debt.”
The Energy Department in 2009 approved a $118.5 million stimulus grant for EnerDel, a subsidiary of the company that develops lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. The grant was part of a broader program aimed at promoting the development of electric-vehicle battery technology.
At the time, EnerDel said the grant would help the company double its production capacity and create 1,700 jobs. But the company has faced major financial problems in recent months.
Ener1’s decision to file for bankruptcy will likely draw the attention of House Republicans, who are investigating the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the solar panel maker that received a $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee in 2009.
We are extremely confident that the company's primary investors and lenders are also delighted to have just wiped out $120 million in costless equity value and to have complete control over the company at this point.
And some hilarious selections from the company's then proud announcement of procuring US taxpayer funding that as of today is no more:
The White House today announced that Indiana-based automotive lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel, Inc., will receive $118.5 million in federal grant funding under the stimulus package passed last spring. The funds will help double the company's U.S. production capacity, creating approximately 1,700 new jobs in the state. Word came in separate speeches by President Obama in Elkhart, Indiana, and Vice President Joe Biden in Detroit, Michigan.
EnerDel, the lithium-ion battery subsidiary of Ener1, Inc. (Nasdaq: HEV - News), is one of nine companies selected to receive funds for cell, battery and materials manufacturing grants in a broadly subscribed solicitation managed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). EnerDel received the full amount it requested. In all, 48 companies in the electric and hybrid vehicle sector received a total of $2.4 billion in awards today.
"This is about planting the roots of a critical industry firmly in American soil," said Ener1 Chairman and CEO Charles Gassenheimer. "The economic benefits associated with this government investment will stretch far beyond the battery industry. Carmakers in North America, foreign and domestic, are counting on advanced battery systems to power an entire new generation of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles."
The grants will work together with the applied for long-term, low-interest loans under DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program (ATVM), in unleashing private capital flows to companies in this sector. EnerDel is in advanced stages of discussions with DOE regarding its ATVM application.
"These government incentives will provide a powerful stimulus to a vital industry and help ensure that the batteries eventually powering millions of cars around the world carry the stamp 'Made in the USA,' Gassenheimer said.
EnerDel is the first and so far only company in the industry to have built facilities in the United States to produce automotive lithium-ion batteries on a commercial scale, and recently unveiled one of the most advanced battery cell production lines in the world at its plant in Indiana. The company also recently announced partnership projects with Volvo and Nissan, as well as with plug-in and electric vehicle makers Fisker and Think Global.
"We are in a race today that will decide who will make the technology to power future generations of fuel-efficient vehicles around the world," said EnerDel CEO Ulrik Grape. "Korea, Japan and China are doing everything they can to win it, but with these new resources, the Obama administration is helping America's best, most innovative players move ahead of the pack."
"Economic growth is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This effort has been a model of bi-partisan cooperation by Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, and by Governor Mitch Daniels," Grape said. "Their support has been tremendously important."
The funds will help EnerDel in mass producing a high-quality automotive product with a wide range of engineering capabilities for multiple automotive requirements, including high-speed, automated production lines for cell electrode manufacturing, and lean-manufacturing techniques for battery assembly.
Good work US taxpayer - through your selfless loss of money you have managed to splatter yet another egg of infinite humiliation on the fact of the world's biggest and most incompetent central planning administration, which would make even Stalin green with envy.
And, heeeeeere's Biden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TJ8DwarED1A
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/taxpayers-lose-another-1185-million-next-obama-stimulus-pet-project-files-bankruptcy
From The Hill:
An Indiana-based energy-storage company that received a $118.5 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department filed for bankruptcy Thursday.
Ener1 is asking a federal bankruptcy court in New York to approve a plan to restructure the company’s debt and infuse $81 million in equity funding.
“This was a difficult, but necessary, decision for our company,” Ener1 CEO Alex Sorokin said in a news release. “We are extremely pleased to have the strong support of our primary investors and lenders to substantially reduce the company’s debt.”
The Energy Department in 2009 approved a $118.5 million stimulus grant for EnerDel, a subsidiary of the company that develops lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. The grant was part of a broader program aimed at promoting the development of electric-vehicle battery technology.
At the time, EnerDel said the grant would help the company double its production capacity and create 1,700 jobs. But the company has faced major financial problems in recent months.
Ener1’s decision to file for bankruptcy will likely draw the attention of House Republicans, who are investigating the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the solar panel maker that received a $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee in 2009.
We are extremely confident that the company's primary investors and lenders are also delighted to have just wiped out $120 million in costless equity value and to have complete control over the company at this point.
And some hilarious selections from the company's then proud announcement of procuring US taxpayer funding that as of today is no more:
The White House today announced that Indiana-based automotive lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel, Inc., will receive $118.5 million in federal grant funding under the stimulus package passed last spring. The funds will help double the company's U.S. production capacity, creating approximately 1,700 new jobs in the state. Word came in separate speeches by President Obama in Elkhart, Indiana, and Vice President Joe Biden in Detroit, Michigan.
EnerDel, the lithium-ion battery subsidiary of Ener1, Inc. (Nasdaq: HEV - News), is one of nine companies selected to receive funds for cell, battery and materials manufacturing grants in a broadly subscribed solicitation managed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). EnerDel received the full amount it requested. In all, 48 companies in the electric and hybrid vehicle sector received a total of $2.4 billion in awards today.
"This is about planting the roots of a critical industry firmly in American soil," said Ener1 Chairman and CEO Charles Gassenheimer. "The economic benefits associated with this government investment will stretch far beyond the battery industry. Carmakers in North America, foreign and domestic, are counting on advanced battery systems to power an entire new generation of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles."
The grants will work together with the applied for long-term, low-interest loans under DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program (ATVM), in unleashing private capital flows to companies in this sector. EnerDel is in advanced stages of discussions with DOE regarding its ATVM application.
"These government incentives will provide a powerful stimulus to a vital industry and help ensure that the batteries eventually powering millions of cars around the world carry the stamp 'Made in the USA,' Gassenheimer said.
EnerDel is the first and so far only company in the industry to have built facilities in the United States to produce automotive lithium-ion batteries on a commercial scale, and recently unveiled one of the most advanced battery cell production lines in the world at its plant in Indiana. The company also recently announced partnership projects with Volvo and Nissan, as well as with plug-in and electric vehicle makers Fisker and Think Global.
"We are in a race today that will decide who will make the technology to power future generations of fuel-efficient vehicles around the world," said EnerDel CEO Ulrik Grape. "Korea, Japan and China are doing everything they can to win it, but with these new resources, the Obama administration is helping America's best, most innovative players move ahead of the pack."
"Economic growth is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This effort has been a model of bi-partisan cooperation by Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, and by Governor Mitch Daniels," Grape said. "Their support has been tremendously important."
The funds will help EnerDel in mass producing a high-quality automotive product with a wide range of engineering capabilities for multiple automotive requirements, including high-speed, automated production lines for cell electrode manufacturing, and lean-manufacturing techniques for battery assembly.
Good work US taxpayer - through your selfless loss of money you have managed to splatter yet another egg of infinite humiliation on the fact of the world's biggest and most incompetent central planning administration, which would make even Stalin green with envy.
And, heeeeeere's Biden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TJ8DwarED1A
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/taxpayers-lose-another-1185-million-next-obama-stimulus-pet-project-files-bankruptcy