Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Argonne National Laboratory
Leading U.S. battery researchers say a proposed 75% cut in federal funding could set back U.S. hopes to dominate the future of batteries and electric cars, and lead to a raid of U.S. talent by China and others in the technological race.
The mood is somber this week at an annual conference in Washington, DC, where hundreds of battery researchers from universities and U.S. federal labs are presenting their latest findings, and justifying millions of dollars in U.S. government funding toward the creation of super-batteries for electric cars and the grid.
In interviews, researchers said Congress will probably largely ignore President Donald Trump's proposal, and restore much of the 2018 funding. But, given the intensity of competition for industries expected to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in future sales, they said the best ideas could be wooed away by China, Japan, South Korea or others.
In the Trump administration's proposed Energy Department budget for next year, the funding for advanced battery research falls to about $36 million, from $140 million last year. The budget provides no funding for two showcase research programs _ a $20-million-a-year research hub at Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago, and ARPA-E, an incubator for high-risk, high-reward battery and other energy projects. "Cutting research budgets for technologies of the future puts us at a competitive disadvantage with countries around the world who are investing in their scientists and entrepreneurs," David Sandalow, a former undersecretary of energy, told Axios.
What's behind this: Trump's rationale is that the federal government is effectively subsidizing research that, if it's justified, companies should pay for and carry out. But energy and technology experts — noting that the federal government funded the early development of today's leading technologies, including cell phones, Siri, GPS and the Internet itself — say federal support is justified given the strategic economic nature of the industries, and the competition from rivals abroad.
A level deeper: Look for a fight in Congress. Claire Curry, a researcher at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, tells Axios that Asian companies are likely to continue dominating the manufacture of batteries. But government research has deep support in Congress, based on its merits and the hard politics that many of the government labs are spread across the country, and thus provide thousands of jobs. Oak Ridge National Lab, for example, is a core part of the Tennessee economy.