Granholm almost at another touchdown: possible score of 300 jobs!

Not a done deal yet, but hopefully contracts like these can undo the foundation of spin from the MI-GOP about that "single state recession" nonsense.

From the Detroit Free Press:

In addition, Gov. Jennifer Granholm laid a hard-sell pitch on Tesla founder and CEO Martin Eberhard last week to also put a $100-million, 300-employee Tesla manufacturing plant in Michigan -- a factory earlier reported to be headed for Arizona, North Carolina or California.

It would be a serious boon to the Michigan economy, and also be a nice bonus for alternative energies -- one of the four cornerstones to the 21st Century Jobs Fund.

Tesla Motors was formed in 2003 by Eberhard, 46, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who sold the digital book company NuvoMedia for $187 million, and by his partner Marc Tarpenning. Last year, they began selling their first product, the $100,000 Tesla Roadster, which is powered by lithium-ion batteries and boasts a range of 250 miles per charge.

[...]

Tesla's U.S. manufacturing plant and the Rochester Hills engineering center would be focused chiefly on the company's next-generation electric vehicle, a sedan that Eberhard hopes will cost around $50,000 and sell about 10 times the volume of the roadster.

If this goes through it will be a huge touchdown for team Michigan. And it might keep pushing the Big 3 toward that little thing called an electric (or a plug-in hybrid) car.

You go, JG! Let's hope Tesla comes over to the Great Lakes State!

It's Not a Bail-Out. It's Not a Bail-Out. Repeat After Me.

Mega-blog Crooks and Liars picked up the Michigan gives $300m to Ford story yesterday, as well.

And man can people (commenters, not the authors on C&L) be such cynics. "It's socialist!" "It's a bail-out!" "The Big 3 suck!" "Wahh wahh wahh!"

1. It is not a bail-out; the cynic in me calls it is a bribe. The optimist in me calls it an investment.
2. Like it or not, we need the Big 3.
3. Investment in Michigan -- like what Ford is doing in their plants -- is a good thing.
4. GM still > Ford. Ford needs to stop with the truck pimpage.

Horse before the cart, people. Horse before the cart. Can't go on wailing about $150m toward commuter rail if workers in SE Michigan have no job to where they commute.

Horse before the cart.

$300 million for Ford. New investment for Michigan. But do the Big 3 still get it?

Ford is getting $300 million from Michigan: approximately 1/2 in direct funds, and another 1/2 from abatements in local property taxes.

In return, Ford is investing $866 million in plant upgrades. Via the Detroit Free Press:

Here's how the investment package breaks down:

• $130 million for Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant.
• $320 million for Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights.
• $88 million for Livonia Transmission Plant.
• $89 million for Woodhaven Stamping Plant.
• $31 million for Dearborn Stamping Plant.
• $208 million for Dearborn Truck Plant.

[Source: Ford's Millions for Michigan]

Good news for thousands of Ford employees and suppliers, and great news for Michigan. But do they get it?

The Big 3 are eager to point out their new commitment to "smaller" cars, with greater "fuel efficiency," and better for the "environment." If I were playing Family Fued with the Big 3, I'd get a very nice "Survey Says" score with these trigger words.

BBC has a few words:

Ford, although introducing new versions of the smaller cars like the Focus, is mainly focusing on trucks, where it is the market leader, and rebranded "muscle cars" like a new four-door Mustang.

Or how about this gem from DaimlerChrysler?

[Chrysler's chief economist Van Jolissaint] said that he had been surprised by how much support there had been in the Daimler office in Stuttgart for these "quasi-hysterical" policies that smacked of "Chicken Little" politics - referring to the US children's story in which Chicken Little runs around in circles saying "the sky is falling".

If nothing else, Mr Jolissaint's remarks illustrate the yawning gap between mainstream opinion on climate change among the educated elites of Europe and America.

But they are also consistent with the cynical view held by some in the US environmental lobby that announcements by car companies about the future development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing.

[...]

Neither Ford's chief economist Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, nor General Motors' chief economist Mustafa Mohatarem, who were on the panel with Mr Jolissaint, questioned his assertion.

[Source: Chrysler questions climate change]

We'll see. I'm very optimistic about the new investment, and glad that it is happening in Michigan. But the Big 3 have a lot to prove if they want to move the automotive industry into the 21st century. Talk about "green" isn't going to stop the Toyota juggernaut; after all, Toyota wants to put a hybrid version of every vehicle they produce.

So let's update those factories and put our Michigan minds to work, neh?

GM -- Back on the Electric Track?

UPDATE: The Detroit Free Press also covers the new Chevy Volt, and jokes with filmmaker Chris Paine of Who Killed the Electric Car? fame.

Hat tip to Zach at Pohlitics for this one.


GM's long-lost EV1. Image courtesy of GM's old, old, old 2001 EV1 web site.

Via The Washington Post, it looks like GM is trying to re-gain its lead on hybrid and electric car markets.

A couple of months ago, I was introduced to a great, direct-to-sales documentary called Who Killed the Electric Car? I talked about it on MichiganLiberal, but to re-cap:

In the 1990s, GM was at the forefront of the electric vehicle: a car that emitted no exhaust and relied exclusively on battery power and electricity.

These cars were manufactured right here in Lansing, MI, until GM pulled the plug on the vehicle and recalled all existing EV1s that were exclusively in the hands of leasers. Why? They decided to instead focus on the emerging SUV market -- a market supported by massive tax breaks from the Federal government.

Will round two show GM able to trounce Toyota in the 21st century automotive race? Will they commit to low/zero-emission vehicles? Or will Congressional Democrats be forced follow through on increased CAFE (fuel economy) standards and leave GM flat on its back?

We'll see. I'm hoping for the best. That EV1 sure looked sexy.