Michigan members of Congress recently sent a letter to the EPA requesting that the regulatory body expedite GM’s request to approve the use of carbon nanotubes, an advanced material slated for use in the production of the automaker’s Ultium electric vehicle batteries.
According to a recent report from The Detroit News, the bipartisan letter to the EPA is dated April 6th, and was signed by U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, and Democratic U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters.
The letter reinforces the importance of a request for approval made by Ultium Cells LLC, the joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solutions, and states that the carbon nanotube material is critical in opening GM’s new battery production facility in Delta Township. GM recently announced $7 billion in investments for its Michigan-based facilities to support the production of new electric vehicles, including $2.5 billion for battery production at the Delta Township plant, which is expected to create 1,700 new jobs.
The letter follows a recent announcement made by the Biden Administration that mentions the use of the Defense Production Act to support the domestic development and production of new electric vehicles.
Carbon nanotubes are essentially chemically bonded carbon atoms, which can be used for the efficient storage or transfer of heat or electrical energy. While great for new EV battery technology, the EPA determined in 2011 that carbon nanotubes could be a health hazard, for example, causing lung issues if inhaled.
Although approvals from the EPA are expected to take around three months, the GM request for approval in the use of carbon nanotubes is more than two months past the legal deadline. If the applications are not reviewed by May, it could result in a delayed launch for GM’s battery production facilities.
“Given the importance of this project to Michigan and to our country’s EV supply chain, we ask EPA to complete the reviews of the (applications) so that these important EV battery projects are not delayed,” the letter reads.
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Comments
The entire EPA needs abolished. Class action lawsuits always beat them to the lunch about sever violations anyways. All they do is hamper progress and ruin people lives.
A regulatory body needs to be in place, but needs to be properly staffed and funded.
” carbon nanotubes could be a health hazard, for example, causing lung issues if inhaled.”
Can you spell Asbestosis and Mesothelioma ?
Not a fan of EFI, eh? ‘Cuz without the EPA, we’d likely still be driving cars with carburetors.
The EPA does need to be abolished. It doesn’t do its job. I don’t know if its because of who they put in to run it or that the regulations are so mixed up they can’t protect anyone nor advance anything. I do believe there needs to be a modern regulatory agency in place with scientists making the decisions based on data from reliable sources not paid for by corporations. They need to see the whole picture. For example, if the EV batteries are a health hazard, can they be sealed well enough that they are not? Like our current car batteries! EPA should ask: What is the plan of disposal? No is not an answer. How can we find a solution to this great idea, should be progress forward for most proposals unless the product or conduct will obviously be a health hazard with no solution, like RoundUp.
…and not be unduly influenced by industry’s wants.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE A LONG TERM
LOSER. ALL THIS INVESTMENT IS A
DREAM OF CHILDREN. STORAGE CELLS
ARE NOT THE ANSWER FOR POWER.
HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS ARE THE WAY
TO ELIMINATE WASTED FILL UP TIME.
WITHOUT A SOLUTION TO RECHARGE
TIME, LIMITED STORAGE BATTERY RECHARGE
CYCLES THE ELECTRIC CARS WILL BE A
NICHE MARKET. REPLACING THE STORAGE
BATTERIES IS AS EXPENSIVE AS A NEW CAR.
I AM AMAZED THAT REAL BUSINESS PEOPLE
ARE EVEN CONSIDERING SPENDING ALL THIS
MONEY ON A FANTASY. ANYONE EVER BUY
A USED ELECTRIC CAR? HOW MANY CHARGE
CYCLES HAS IT ALREADY BEEN THROUGH? DID
THE USED CARE DEALER LIE? HOW COULD YOU
KNOW?
THE TECHNOLOGY IS JUST WRONG, FOR CARS. …
It won’t be a niche market because leftist democratic states will ban anything buy ev .
The dumb person here is the one who thinks the US is far right. Probably a butt hurt kid mad the government won’t give you everything.
Wasted fill-up time. I took me 4 seconds to plug in my car and 4 seconds to unplug it. I do that twice a week. That’s about 16 seconds of wasted time for the 426 miles I drive per week. That 400 miles cost me $16. The battery will last approximately 1,000,000 miles, or approximately 96 years at my 15,000 miles per year rate. My 1 ton diesel was replaced right before I bought it (should have been a big red flag but it lasted me a couple years before I sold it). That cost $14,000 to have done. Replacing a Tesla Model Y battery pack is between $10,000 and $12,000. That isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples but the diesel was the most recent vehicle I had that had an engine replacement. I needed it for the enclosed car hauler we had at the time. I’ve since downgraded to a half ton.
The Model Y comes with 8 years of battery coverage. I suppose you’d never know when buying it what the cycle life was like but you can use the year of production and mileage to get a really good idea. It isn’t like you have to worry that the previous owner never changed the oil, or transmission fluid, or differential oil. They just work. And, they work really well. At least that’s been my experience. Buying used is always a crap shoot.
You could ask all the fear mongering questions about a gas car. Did the dealer lie? Has the oil ever been changed? Has this car been left to idle for hours on end without the mileage showing that? Will the engine need replaced soon? The transmission?
Charging the Tesla is SO simple and fast. Daily, you just plug it in when it gets low and when you get ready to go to work the next day, it’s all charged and ready to go. No driving to a gas station, waiting in line (Well, Sam’s club where I fill up my truck always has a line. I’m a little jealous my wife drives the Tesla), there’s no oil change you have to wait on, there’s literally nothing you have to do maintenance-wise but rotate tires, change wiper blades, and refill washer fluid.
There is no government conspiracy that made us buy the Tesla. It’s just better in every way but one. Road trips DO take a little longer and require a little planning though the car DOES plan the stops for you. It took me almost one hour longer from Nebraska to Louisiana than it took my wife making the same trip in a rental van (too many people for the Model Y).
Anyway, I’m telling you, the last two years of having the Model Y have been absolutely wonderful. Well, for my wife. I still drive my truck. But, as soon as I can, I’ll dump that for an EV. So good. Once you’ve had one, you won’t want to go back to gas.
My opinion, of course. Cheers.
A MILLION MILES FROM A NICAD STORAGE BATTERY? … FANTASY.
RIGHT! 🤣
Another Teslemming who believes the lie about the 1 million mile battery. Every single example of a high mileage Tesla has had at least one pack replacement, snd the cost is over $20k if done out of warrantee.
I think it’s sad you never take trips.
You should get out more.
There is a button that removes capital letters!!!!!
CAPS ARE.EASIER TO READ AT MY AGE… (82)
I HOPE THAT OUR AUTO CORPORATIONS
ARE NOT IN BED WITH THE GOVERNMENT.
IF IT IS THE GOVERNMENT THEY ARE COUNTING
ON FOR A MARKET, THE RESISTANCE WILL BE
HUGE. IF GM AND OTHER BELIEVE THAT THE
GOVERNMENT WILL FORCE EVERYONE TO BUY
AN ELECTRIC CAR THAT IS THE ONLY WAY ALL
THIS INVESTMENT WILL PAY OFF. GOVERNMENT
COERCION OR REGULATION WILL BE THE ONLY
WAY THEY WILL SELL STORAGE BATTERY TECH
AS A REAL MARKET FOR THESE NEW ELECTRIC CARS.
UNTIL GM AND OTHER SOLVE THE STORAGE
BATTERY PROBLEMS THAT’S WHAT IT WILL TAKE
TO MAKE A MARKET BIG ENOUGH TO MAKE IT
WORTH SPENDING SO MUCH INVESTMENT MONEY,
LETS HOPE THIS IS NOT WHAT GM AN OTHERS
HAVE IN MIND, IT WILL BE ANOTHER COVID BOON
DOGGLE WHERE THE GOVERNMENT FORCES ALL
TO TAKE THE JAB. AND THE JAB IS WHAT CAUSES ALL
THAT SICKNESS AND DEATH.
THINK AMERICA THINK!!
If you’re 82, you must missed sitting in gas lines, 55 mph speed limits and filling your vehicle up based on your license plate in the ’70s …
Yeah, that’s why a normally very conservative Honda announced a $40 billion (with a B) electric car program.
IMHO THE RESEARCH THAT WILL GIVE YOU UNENDING POWER WITHOUT POLLUTION IS HYDROGEN. 2/3 OF THE EARTH IS WATER. SO, NOT GONNA RUN OUT. NO NEED FOR HOURS ON A CHARGER, JUST FILL THE TANK WITH HYDROGEN AND DRIVE AWAY. NO EXHAUST POLLUTANTS JUST A LITTLE WARM WATER. CANADA IS WELL ON THE WAY TO USING HYDROGEN. MUSK TALKS ABOUT SCALE. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY BATTERIES IT WOULD TAKE TO POWER THE EARTH? GAZILLIONS. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW WE COULD EVER DIG THAT MANY NEEDED MINERALS OUT OF THE EARTH? NO!! MINERALS THAT ARE NOT ALL IN THE USA BY THE WAY. SO THERE’S LOTS OF GEO POLITICS TO FIGURE OUT. GREED CORRUPTION WOULD JUST BE THE TIP OF THAT ICE BERG.
BUT I STILL CAN’T GET OVER HOW ANYONE WOULD THINK THAT THEY COULD GET A MILLION MILES FROM A NICAD BATTERY PACK THAT WEIGHS A TON. THERE IS NO WAY ANY NICAD BATTERY THAT GIVES YOU 300 TO 400 MILES PER CHARGE COULD CHARGE UP THAT MANY CYCLES. I MEAN THAT’S WAY FAR OUT IN SPACE … THAT’S 250,000 CYCLES. YOU THINK YOU CAN GET 250,000 RECHARGING CYCLES OUT OF A NICAD BATTERY? GOOD LUCK.
JUST SAYIN … WE ARE CHASING THE WRONG RABBIT. IF WE INVESTED AS MUCH MONEY IN HYDROGEN GENERATION TO MAKE IT CHEAPER THAN GAS WE WOULD HAVE A FUTURE. IF WE CONTINUE DOWN THIS DEAD END OF NICAD STORAGE BATTERY PAPER WEIGHTS WE WILL EVENTUALLY BE BACK TO HYDRO CARBONS. LOTS OF THOSE IN THE EARTH RIGHT HERE IN THE USA. LETS PUT THE MONEY WHERE IT WILL DO SOME GOOD.
HAVE A GOOD DAY …
Hydrogen is a good idea but it’s needs to be commercial only as it’s volatile (imagine a 17 year old filling a hydrogen vehicle station activity talking on a cellphone while pumping..)
ONE MORE THING. WE CAN’T FORGET ABOUT PHYSICS. THAT’S WHY TODAY WHEN ELON MUSK WAS ON TED HE MENTIONED PHYSICS BEING HIS BIG SWEET SPOT, BUT NOT A WORD ABOUT HYDROGEN CREATION. I GUESS HE’S PRETTY MUCH BURIED IN BATTERIES. I CAN UNDERSTAND HIS POSITION. NOT TO MENTION IT AT ALL??? JUST THE SAVINGS IN WEIGHT WOULD BE ENORMOUS. ANYWAY …
THAT I BELIEVE IS THE TRUE ANSWER TO THIS POLLUTION THING. EVERY WOKE CHILD IS ALL SCREWY ABOUT NOT POLLUTING ANYTHING YET THEY DON’T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT PHYSICS. THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND…
I bought an EV 6 months ago. I’ve put 10,000 miles on it and the cost has been 4 cents/mile. Please do the math and see what your big truck costs you per mile….IE:…. (price of gas divided by your MPG = cost/mile). If you can beat me than we can talk.
Fuel cells are stupid expensive and cars using them still need batteries. Producing hydrogen for fuel cells is also stupid expensive. Far more costly that fossil fuels and electricity. Futhermore, there’s no hydrogen distribution network to sell the hydrogen. Fuel cells will never be economically viable in passenger cars. Maybe commercial vehicles (trucks, ships, construction equipment) when fuel cell and hydrogen costs decrease.