Would-Be Car-Battery Kings Jostle Over $2.4B From Feds

Some 165 companies and states are battling for a $2.4 billion Obama administration grant aimed at making the US a leader in electric-car batteries, the Wall Street Journal reports. General Motors, Dow Chemical, and General Electric are among the firms vying for the money; states like Michigan, Kentucky, and Massachusetts are on board, hoping to become the center of an industry that promises big things.

Car batteries are currently a $9 billion a year market, but that could soar to $150 billion by 2030, a study finds. And “if you're the place where the batteries are made, there’s an opportunity to spin it into other things as well,” said a Michigan exec. The grant would fund the building of lithium-ion batteries, an industry frontrunner. (More lithium ion batteries stories.)