"Domestic factories that make batteries to store power to meet America’s rising energy demand depend on Chinese components and federal subsidies."
"The robots were doing practice runs.
It was the day before production was set to begin, and every few seconds, machines folded a stack of paper-thin battery cells into a metallic sheath. Then they sealed the pouch around the edges.
This tightly choreographed assembly line is the result of yearslong American efforts to match China’s industrial policy in areas like battery manufacturing. Ultimately, the batteries produced at this Michigan factory by LG Energy Solution, a South Korean company, will help balance the supply and demand for power on U.S. electric grids.
The silver-colored pouches — roughly the size of two computer keyboards set end to end — will be placed into large battery containers that can be more than 20 feet wide. In the last few years, electric utilities and other energy companies have begun spending billions of dollars to install scores of such big batteries around the country in parking lots, at old industrial sites and on what used to be farmland."
Rebecca F. Elliott reports for the New York Times May 26, 2025.
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