Jennifer Granholm

The lithium-ion battery pack for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicles officially went into volume production today. The 16-kilowatt-hour battery pack, containing 220 lithium-ion cells made by Korea's LG Chem, will be assembled in a 160,000-square-foot factory in Brownstown Township, Michigan, newly renovated at a cost of $266 million. That plant will be the first in the U.S. in which a major carmaker assembles lithium-ion packs. Almost all current hybrid vehicles use nickel-metal-hydride cells, which contain less energy than the lithium cells. Fear of China Various...