April 16, 2024
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Foster holds hearing on expected surge in EV battery demand

Hearing in Woodridge on Thursday open to the public

By Bob Okon
An all-electric school bus sits on display during a March 2022 news conference and interactive tour of the Lion Electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Joliet.

An electric school bus and truck were on display in March during a tour of The Lion Electric Company's future factory in Joliet. (Gary Middendorf/Gary Middendorf)

An executive with The Lion Electric Company will be among witnesses at a congressional hearing on Thursday in Woodridge on an expected surge in demand for electric vehicle batteries.

Nate Baguio, senior vice president of commercial development at Lion Electric, which is building an electric bus and truck factory in Joliet, is one of four witnesses at the hearing.

Nate Baguio, Senior Vice President of Commercial Development for Lion Electric, speaks during a press conference and interactive tour of the Lion Electric vehicle manufacturing facility. Monday, Mar. 21, 2022, in Joliet.

Nate Baguio, senior vice president of commercial development for Lion Electric, spoke in March at an event at the company's future factory in Joliet. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigation and Oversight, will lead the hearing.

The hearing is open to the public and starts at 10 a.m. in the Werch Board Room at Woodridge Village Hall, 5 Plaza Drive.

The hearing also will examine supply chain issues related to minerals required for manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles, according to a news release from Foster’s office.

Other witnesses scheduled at the hearing are Chris Nevers, senior director of public policy at Rivian, Venkrat Srinivasan, director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science at Argonne National Laboratory, and Chibueze Amanchukwu, assistant professor of molecular engineering at the University of Chicago.