President Obama today announced 48 new advanced battery and electric-drive projects that will receive $2.4 billion in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The money could help start a battery industry in the United States, which could be essential for US automakers to start manufacturing plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles at a large scale.

For more on the significance of this funding for the battery industry, click here.

The announcement, with a list of the groups receiving funding, can be found here.

On its own, the money won't be enough to build the large-scale factories that some companies are planning. One, A123 Systems of Watertown, MA, received $249 million in grant money. But it has also applied for $1.84 billion in federal loans to finance its proposed factories in Michigan.