Delphi Using $89.3M DOE Award to Support Expansion of Power Electronics Engineering and New Manufacturing Facility; First Products for Allison
19 December 2009
Delphi Electronics & Safety outlined its plans to implement an $89.3 million award (earlier post) from the Department of Energy (DOE) to support expansion of its power electronics engineering capabilities as well as the establishment of a new manufacturing operation in Kokomo, Indiana.
Among the first products expected to be manufactured at the new facility will be power electronics components and systems for Allison Transmission, a leading supplier of commercial-duty fully automatic transmissions for both on- and off-highway vehicles, and of hybrid propulsion systems for on-highway transit and coach vehicles.
Allison, headquartered in Indianapolis, announced earlier this month that it had entered into a long-term business agreement with Delphi to advance the production of medium-duty hybrid trucks in the United States. (Earlier post.) Under terms of the agreement, Delphi will supply Allison with key hybrid drive system electronic components and energy storage systems to be used in its hybrid propulsion systems for medium-duty commercial trucks and buses.
The award, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was announced by President Barack Obama during a visit to Indiana in August. With an $89.3 million match by Delphi, this action will represent a three-year investment of up to $178.6 million to advance the development of low-cost manufacturing of electric drive vehicles (EDV) in the United States.
In addition to the DOE award, Delphi has been offered support from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation through performance-based tax credits and training grants. The company also is finalizing a property tax abatement application with the City of Kokomo.
Over the next five years, Delphi anticipates adding about 190 employees as a result of government and business awards to Delphi’s power electronics business line. Delphi expects to add about 95 engineers at its Kokomo technology center over the next two years, increasing engineering employment in the power electronics unit to more than 300. In the next three years, Delphi projects about 40 people will be hired at a Kokomo facility where power electronics products will be manufactured with employment at that facility moving to a total of about 95 by 2014.
Delphi will establish its manufacturing operation in an existing facility at 1501 E. Road 200 North (Morgan Street). The company will lease the 90,000-square-foot building, reusing vacant manufacturing space originally built for a manufacturer of metals for the orthopedics industry in northern Indiana.
Delphi is the only high-volume automotive power electronics company that designs and manufactures in the United States for the global EDV market. The company provides powertrain electronics for several hybrid electric vehicle manufacturers. Delphi is focused on reducing the cost of hybrid power electronics while, at the same time, designing in market-leading functionality and reliability.
Key products include integrated electronic power management systems as well as battery energy storage sub-systems, inverters and DC/DC (direct current to direct current) converters, chargers and power controllers that can be used in mild hybrids, full hybrids, electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles.
Delphi’s history in power electronics dates back to the early 1990s and the development of GM’ss ground-breaking EV1. With significant investment over the last 20 years in its power electronics expertise and facilities in Kokomo, Delphi has nurtured that automotive electronics technology legacy and has moved it into the volume production phase. Since 2000, Delphi has been issued more than 100 patents in power electronics and advanced energy systems.
Transmission companies should be looking at hybrid drives or they will be left behind. There may come a time when transmissions are used less often and they need to be part of future business.
Posted by: SJC | 19 December 2009 at 03:41 PM
Happy Holidays from a loyal GCC commenter to the other loyal GCC commenters!!! To My Democratic Friends: Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish.
To My Republican Friends: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 2010.
Posted by: ejj | 19 December 2009 at 05:45 PM
ejj,
Merry Christmas and Happy new year to you and yours, as well.
And to all the others, so well addressed, as well.
Posted by: Stan Peterson | 21 December 2009 at 06:56 AM