President Obama Praises the Chevy Volt

President Obama Next to Chevy Volt

President Obama, even as BP finally cuts off the flow of oil into the Gulf (maybe!), was visiting the ground breaking of a battery plant in Holland, MI. The Compact Power (Compact Power is a subsidiary of LG Chem) battery plant will make the battery cells for the Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt will be the first of it's kind, an Extended Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV).

The battery plant was partially built using federal funds of $151 million and matched by the company. The plant will create several hundred jobs over the next few years as construction finishes and workers are hired.

Powered by electricity, the battery pack can be recharged by a small gas engine designed only to recharge the battery. So, you can travel for up to 40 miles on electric power, then you can keep on going as gas engine kicks in.

The Volt goes on sale later this year in select states.

According to Obama, the US will have the capacity to build 40 percent of the world's batteries by 2015.

Ford will also be purchasing batteries from the Compact Power plant.