GM goes further down the dumper; NiHM battery supplier broke due to Chevron

GM may soon be feeling some of Chrysler's pain over bankrupt
suppliers.  The CarConnection re****ts Cobasys, supplier of the NiMH
batteries used in the light-hybrid Vue, Aura and Malibu and holder of
"a key contract in the development of GM's much-anticipated plug-in
hybrid, the Volt," is out of money.  The battery maker lost more than
$76m last year and expect to lose $82m this year.  To make matters
worse, the company's joint owners, ChevronTexaco and ECD, can't agree
on the 2008 budget.  So Cobays' operating budget is $92m short.
Cobasys is now on GM's "distressed supplier list;" the General refuses
to comment on the situation.  In the meantime, GM has struck a deal to
buy batteries for its two-mode hybrid trucks from a Panasonic - Toyota
joint venture.

Note how it's ChevronTexaco who's putting the kibosh on Cobasys by
stalling their budgeting...another move by Big Oil to stop any move
toward electric propulsion dead in its tracks.  A Democratic
administration will probably have the government take over funding of
NiMH development, thus ruining this attempt by Big Oil to "defund"
competition for their products into oblivion.

To read more:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/news-blog/cobasys-crisis-has-gm-buying-batteries-from-toyota/