Prabhakar Patil has stepped down after ten years as CEO of the Korean battery maker LG Chem’s research unit LG Chem Power.
Patil, 65, said he would continue to act as an adviser to LG Chem Power and teach part-time at his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Solar Technology Bombay.
While Patil was in control, LG Chem opened a lithium-ion battery factory in Holland, Michigan that supplies technology for vehicles including the Chevrolet Volt, for which his replacement CEO, Denise Gray, helped to develop a lithium-ion battery system.
The Michigan plant did not have a smooth start, shipping batteries in from Korea instead of producing them in-house because demand failed to meet expectations.
There were then allegations against the company about using federal stimulus cash to pay workers who were not in fact making batteries, although LG Chem said it had to maintain a qualified workforce while it awaited the start of production.
In September Patil announced that production was ‘significantly higher’ than in 2014, but he would not give details.
