GM places bet on Ann Arbor's Sakti3 for battery production

Chapter 11 or not, Ann Arbor's Sakti3 has found a big backer in GM.

Excerpt:

Michigan is ahead of the battery curve. That's no less obvious than with the University of Michigan's Ann Marie Sastry, CEO of Ann Arbor vehicle battery startup Sakti3.

Sastry's next-generation lithium-ion battery manufacturing technology has become a magnet for auto companies, investors and politicians.

Which is why General Motors' endorsement of Sakti3's $15 million federal energy grant application all but a deal clincher for the firm. As GM rushes to meet the expectations of President Barack Obama's auto task force, the firm is being pressured to focus its future on alternative propulsion vehicles. That means GM's support of the Sakti3 application could be seen as an important piece to GM's restructuring.

"GM strongly supports this particular application for DOE stimulus dollars," said Bob Kruse, GM's Chevrolet Volt guru and executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries.

Sakti3 has secured $15 million in capital and is pursuing a matching $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate its expansion plans.

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GM places bet on Ann Arbor's Sakti3 for battery production

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