--- title: Can the Lithium-Ion Battery Save the U.S. Auto Industry? | TIME description: A panel of stakeholders discuss how the lithium-ion battery will shape the future of Michigan's auto industry canonical: https://time.com/video/KtpnidGD/ og:title: Can the Lithium-Ion Battery Save the U.S. Auto Industry? og:description: A panel of stakeholders discuss how the lithium-ion battery will shape the future of Michigan's auto industry og:url: https://time.com/video/KtpnidGD/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KtpnidGD/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Can the Lithium-Ion Battery Save the U.S. Auto Industry? twitter:description: A panel of stakeholders discuss how the lithium-ion battery will shape the future of Michigan's auto industry twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KtpnidGD/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Can the Lithium-Ion Battery Save the U.S. Auto Industry? > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Can the Lithium-Ion Battery Save the U.S. Auto Industry? [Watch (HLS stream): Can the Lithium-Ion Battery Save the U.S. Auto Industry?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KtpnidGD.m3u8) (4:16)  _Published 2010-04-03. A panel of stakeholders discuss how the lithium-ion battery will shape the future of Michigan's auto industry_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:22 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [3 Scientists Share Nobel Prize in Chemistry For Their Work With Lithium-Ion Batteries](/video/vCueFGnP/) ### 3 Scientists Share Nobel Prize in Chemistry For Their Work With Lithium-Ion Batteries [U.S. Oil Industry Layoffs Near 100K, And They Could Get Worse](/video/d49TUyiC/) ### U.S. Oil Industry Layoffs Near 100K, And They Could Get Worse [Ohio Governor Ted Strickland on the Auto Industry Bailout](/video/Rtu4ump2/) ### Ohio Governor Ted Strickland on the Auto Industry Bailout --- ## Transcript >> I'm Steve Gray, TIME Magazine's Detroit Correspondent. And we're here today for a panel discussion about growing the electric battery in market. With us today, our three key people involved in growing that space. Let start with the basics, what is a Lithium- Ion battery and why is it so important to powering electric vehicle? Ann Marie? >> Lithium- Ion battery is a battery which uses lithium as its anode and it has very favorable electro- negativity when combined with a number of different materials that can be used as a cathode and it's also very lightweight. [ unk ] to the top of the periodic table have a very low density. With that means in the vehicle, is that you can load a lot of power on to the vehicle without weighing it down too much, which is really important for range and for power. >> Lithium- Ion battery market has been dominated by Asian players like Sanyo and Hitachi for years. Eric, can you give us some perspective on how prepared is the US market at this point to sort of meet the expected demand? >> Well, I think, you know, up to this point and time we really haven't had a domestic battery industry to speak of, which is why when you look at what the Federal government has done and what we tried to do at the state level too is prepare for a time when electric vehicles were not just special little science projects. There was definitely a determination that, " Look, this is gonna be essentially the new power train for these vehicles and we don't wanna see that power train leadership to another country ." >> What's at stake for, you know, the auto industry especially when it comes to growing the electric bat-- the lithium- ion battery market, and also part two is, what will it take for US companies to remain competitive in that space? >> You know, one of the questions that are often get is by 2050, the internal combustion engine dead and there is nothing but electrified vehicles. And our answer is simplistically no. We still expect by 2050 based on affordability but also based on customer usage that there was still be a significant number of vehicles that, whether they are internal-- you know, petrol or diesel, gas or diesel in combination with new technologies, they will continue. >> I had a company come up to me the other day and say, " So what's the next thing you're gonna be working on now that you've taken care of batteries ?" And I said, " I appreciate the sentiment but-- >> We're still taking care of batteries. >> Yeah, from my perspective, you know, I've talked about all the investments at one, I don't see that as being the end. It's really the beginning. >> Right. >> In some respects, we've kinda dung the easy part. It's now time to execute. It's not time to support that investment, grow that investment. >> Ann Marie, closing thoughts. >> Closing thoughts are we're on a dead sprint. When you look at the people who are going to join in the middle class in the next decade, they'll do a firm. The markets will do a firm, the North American market is certainly the inspirational market. I joked that you can't walk 10 paces in Shanghai without hitting a [ unk ] that's gonna change. And those middle classes will initially almost assuredly select smaller vehicles and for a number of reasons, my hope is that they'll select electric vehicles that the landscape is going to change very dramatically for the United States of America. We'll have to compete in those markets in order to be viable. In fact, it's where we're making money right now in the automotive industry so we have to be [ unk ] and we better lights up because those economies are going to be selecting a lot of process to some products that we have to be facilitized and ready to build for. We have a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship but we have to take those assets and look outside our shores in addition inside our shores. >> Great. Well, Ann Marie Sastry, Eric Shreffler and Nancy Gioia. Thank you very much. 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