EnerVenue abandoned plans for a $264 million factory in Shelbyville, Kentucky, opening its first commercial facility in Changzhou, China instead. The California battery startup relies on nickel-hydrogen technology developed at Stanford University using American research funds, which avoids lithium and cobalt. The new batteries last 30 years and withstand 30,000 charging cycles, offering backup power for electric grids, data centers, and military installations.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro questioned whether this move violates the Bayh-Dole Act regarding domestic manufacturing requirements for federally funded inventions. Decades of outsourcing left the United States without the factories, machine tools, and skilled workers needed to scale domestic production. Beijing maintains control over critical mineral processing and supply chains, leaving American manufacturers vulnerable. Alexander Hamilton warned against passive commerce in Federalist No. 11, while the 2025 National Security Strategy notes that globalization hollowed out domestic industrial capacity. Rebuilding this base requires streamlining permitting through the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act and ensuring long-term manufacturing competitiveness.
Industrial offshoring creates severe structural vulnerabilities within the defence manufacturing ecosystem. When foundational technologies migrate offshore, the domestic base loses the machine tool builders and skilled technicians required to surge production during a conflict. This mirrors the post-Cold War consolidation that degraded the United States munitions industrial base before recent legislative interventions. Consequently, lead-acid starter batteries and other critical energy components rely on Chinese-controlled antimony refining regardless of where final assembly occurs.
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