The US Energy Department has awarded more than US$10 billion in grants and low interest loans to manufacturers and suppliers of advanced vehicles, mainly battery-powered cars.
In an ironic twist - since the program was set up to promote US industry - more than 15% of funding to date has gone to US subsidiaries of foreign firms.
Among these are BASF Catalysts, a subsidiary of German chemical giant BASF SE; Compact Power, a subsidiary of South Korea's LG Chem; Saft America, part of Saft Groupe SA; and Nissan North America, the US manufacturing arm of Japan's Nissan Motor Company.
With the exception of Nissan, which has a joint venture with the NEC Corporation to make lithium-ion batteries for the Leaf EV, an electric car due out in December, no Japanese battery-maker has been awarded a Department of Energy grant or loan.
Japanese battery-makers - namely Panasonic, Sanyo Electric (now a subsidiary of Panasonic), Hitachi Automotive Systems, and GS Yuasa Corporation - account for 95% of 'secondary' batteries for hybrid and pure electric vehicles on the road today.
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