Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Summary of a Symposium

Since 1991, the National Research Council, under the auspices of the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, has undertaken a program of activities to improve policymakers' understandings of the interconnections of science, technology, and economic policy and their importance for the American economy and its international competitive position. The Board's activities have corresponded with increased policy recognition of the importance of knowledge and technology to economic growth. The goal of the this symposium was to conduct two public symposia to review and analyze the potential contributions of public-private partnerships and identify other relevant issues for the Department of Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies, Energy Storage Team's activities in the energy storage research and development area. The symposia will also identify lessons from these and other domestic and international experiences to help inform DoE as to whether its activities are complete and appropriately focused. Additional topics that emerge in the course of the planning may also be addressed. This report gathers representatives from leading battery manufacturers, automotive firms, university researchers, academic and industry analysts, congressional staff, and federal agency representatives. An individually-authored summary of each symposium will be issued. The symposium was held in Michigan in order to provide direct access to the policymakers and industrial participants drawn from the concentration of battery manufacturers and automotive firms in the region. The symposium reviewed the current state, needs, and challenges of the U.S. advanced battery manufacturing industry; challenges and opportunities in battery RD collaborations between the automotive industry and battery industry; workforce issues, and supply chain development. It also focused on the impact of DoE's investments and the role of state and federal programs in support of this growing industry. The task of this report is to summarize the presentations and discussions that took place at this symposium. Needless to say, the battery industry has evolved very substantially since the conference was held, and indeed some of the caveats raised by the speakers with regard to overall demand for batteries and the prospects of multiple producers now seem prescient. At the same time, it is important to understand that it is unrealistic to expect that all recipients of local, state, or federal support in a complex and rapidly evolving industry will necessarily succeed. A number of the firms discussed here have been absorbed by competitors, others have gone out of business, and others continue to progress.

[1]  Maryann P. Feldman,et al.  Cluster genesis : technology-based industrial development , 2008 .

[2]  Michael Borrus,et al.  Technology Policy and Economic Growth , 1997 .

[3]  Sanjaya Lall.  Linking FDI and Technology Development for Capacity Building and Strategic Competitiveness. , 2002 .

[4]  G. Prabhu,et al.  Developmental financial institutions as technology policy instruments: implications for innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging economies , 2003 .

[5]  Philippe Larédo,et al.  Innovation and research policy in France (1980-2000) or the disappearance of the Colbertist state , 2002 .

[6]  J. Kiviluoma,et al.  Global potential for wind-generated electricity , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[7]  F. Tödtling,et al.  One size fits all?: Towards a differentiated regional innovation policy approach , 2005 .

[8]  William R. Kerr,et al.  Who Creates Jobs , 2011 .

[9]  M. Guidolin,et al.  Cross-country diffusion of photovoltaic systems: Modelling choices and forecasts for national adoption patterns , 2010 .

[10]  John L. Campbell,et al.  Governing Ideas: Strategies for Innovation in France and Germany , 1997 .

[11]  Cheng-Hua Tzeng.  Managing innovation for economic development in greater China: The origins of Hsinchu and Zhongguancun , 2010 .

[12]  K. Hughes.  Facing the global competitiveness challenge , 2005, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[13]  G. Wagner,et al.  Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy , 2011 .

[14]  Telecommunications Board.  Funding a Revolution: Government Support for Computing Research , 1999 .

[15]  Carl J. Dahlman,et al.  China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century. WBI Development Studies. , 2001 .

[16]  Margaret R. Taylor.  Beyond technology-push and demand-pull: Lessons from California's solar policy , 2008 .

[17]  Henry Chesbrough,et al.  Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology , 2003 .

[18]  Kevin Morgan,et al.  The Regional Innovation Paradox: Innovation Policy and Industrial Policy , 2002 .

[19]  Daniel Lee Kleinman,et al.  The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford. , 1994 .

[20]  John A. Alic,et al.  Beyond Spinoff: Military and Commercial Technologies in a Changing World , 1992 .

[21]  A. Marshall,et al.  Principles of Economics , 1891 .

[22]  K. Hughes.  Building the Next American Century: The Past and Future of American Economic Competitiveness , 2005 .

[23]  J. Schumpeter.  Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy , 1943 .

[24]  Charles W Wessner.  Introduction: SBIR and the Phase III Challenge of Commercialization , 2007 .

[25]  L. Murphy,et al.  Bridging the Valley of Death: Transitioning from Public to Private Sector Financing , 2003 .

[26]  Stefan Speck.  The Design of Carbon and Broad-Based Energy Taxes in European Countries , 2008 .

[27]  David C. Mowery,et al.  SEMATECH and collaborative research: Lessons in the design of high‐technology consortia , 1994 .

[28]  T. Reid.  The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy , 2004 .

[29]  M. Feldman,et al.  The Economics of Science and Technology: An Overview of Initiatives to Foster Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth , 2002 .

[30]  D. Audretsch,et al.  Local heroes in the global village : globalization and the new entrepreneurship policies , 2005 .

[31]  Henry Etzkowitz,et al.  The Triple Helix: University-Industry-Government Innovation in Action , 2008 .

[32]  M. Fullilove.  Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, And What We Can Do About It , 2004 .

[33]  M. Fritsch,et al.  Contests for Cooperation - A New Approach in German Innovation Policy , 2005 .

[34]  Carl J. Dahlman,et al.  India and the knowledge economy: leveraging strengths and opportunities , 2005 .

[35]  Elhanan Helpman,et al.  Endogenous Innovation in the Theory of Growth , 1993 .

[36]  B. Mckibben.  Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age , 2003 .

[37]  R. Florida.  The Rise of the Creative Class , 2002 .

[38]  Gaetano Zizzo,et al.  Comparative analysis of different supporting measures for the production of electrical energy by solar PV and Wind systems: Four representative European cases , 2009 .

[39]  Molly Longstreth,et al.  The Impact of State Tax Credits and Energy Prices on Adoption of Solar Energy Systems , 1988 .

[40]  Kathryn L. Combs,et al.  The Economics of Science and Technology , 2012 .

[41]  Nassim Nicholas Taleb,et al.  The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable , 2007 .

[42]  P. Romer.  Endogenous Technological Change , 1989, Journal of Political Economy.

[43]  G. Tassey.  Policy Issues for R&D Investment in a Knowledge-Based Economy , 2004 .

[44]  Andreas Pyka,et al.  Mapping national innovation systems in the OECD area , 2006 .

[45]  Philip E. Auerswald,et al.  Between Invention and Innovation An Analysis of Funding for Early-Stage Technology Development , 2002 .

[46]  Z. Ács,et al.  Innovation and Small Firms , 1990 .

[47]  R. Smits,et al.  The rise of systemic instruments in innovation policy , 2004 .

[48]  K. Koschatzky.  The regionalization of innovation policy: New options for regional change? , 2005 .

[49]  Stephen A. Merrill,et al.  Trends in federal support of research and graduate education , 2001 .

[50]  A. Amsden,et al.  Review of: The Rise of "The Rest": Challenges to the West from Late Industrializing Economies , 2001 .

[51]  Andrew Reamer,et al.  Clusters and Competitiveness: A New Federal Role for Stimulating Regional Economics , 2008 .

[52]  Roger L. Geiger,et al.  Tapping the Riches of Science: Universities and the Promise of Economic Growth , 2009 .

[53]  D. Cohen.  Chronicle of Higher Education , 1998 .

[54]  Technology, Growth and Competitiveness: Selected Essays , 2002 .

[55]  Björn Asheim,et al.  Regional Innovation Policy for Small-Medium Enterprises , 2003 .

[56]  M. Teubal.  What is the systems perspective to Innovation and Technology Policy(ITP) and how can we apply it to developing and newly industrialized economies , 2002 .

[57]  D. E. Stokes.  Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation , 1997 .

[58]  Stefan Kuhlmann,et al.  Scenarios of technology and innovation policies in Europe: Investigating future governance , 2003 .

[59]  Charles W Wessner.  The Advanced Technology Program : assessing outcomes , 2001 .

[60]  M. Auffhammer.  Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use , 2011, Environmental Health Perspectives.

[61]  Margaret O'Mara.  Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley , 2005 .

[62]  N. Darghouth,et al.  Tracking the Sun II: The Installed Cost of Photovoltaics in the U.S. from 1998-2008 , 2010 .

[63]  I. Álvarez,et al.  The Role of Technology and Competitiveness Policies: A Technology Gap Approach , 2002 .

[64]  A. Chandler,et al.  Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 , 1994 .

[65]  Meena Mahmood,et al.  In vivo Raman flow cytometry for real-time detection of carbon nanotube kinetics in lymph, blood, and tissues. , 2009, Journal of biomedical optics.

[66]  D. Doloreux,et al.  Regional Innovation Systems in Canada: A Comparative Study , 2004 .

[67]  M. Porter.  The Competitive Advantage Of Nations , 1990 .

[68]  Information structure and coordination in technology policy , 1996 .

[69]  J. McLaren,et al.  State of the states 2009: Renewable energy development and the role of policy , 2009 .

[70]  Maryann P. Feldman,et al.  Innovation Policy in the Knowledge-Based Economy , 2001 .

[71]  Charles W Wessner,et al.  Deconstructing the Computer , 2005 .

[72]  A. J. Padilla,et al.  Harnessing Renewable Energy in Electric Power Systems: Theory, Practice, Policy , 2010 .