Obama-Backed Battery Maker Files for Bankruptcy

By JOHN M. BRODER October 16, 2012, 12:52 pm

An electric car battery maker that President Obama touted as part of a vanguard of a new American electric car industry has filed for bankruptcy and is selling its major assets, the company announced on Tuesday.

A123 Systems, which produces lithium ion batteries for the electric car maker Fisker and the truck manufacturer Navistar, received a $249 million Department of Energy grant that was financed by Mr. Obama's stimulus program. The company has been struggling as electric vehicles have failed to gain a foothold in the American domestic car market. Another battery maker that received federal support, Ener1, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

The company's troubles provide new ammunition for Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, who has criticized the Obama administration's green energy grant and loan programs as a distortion of the marketplace and rife with political favoritism.

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