<p><img class="caption" src="http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/396/223/Joe-Biden-tours-Ener1.jpg" border="0" alt="January 26, 2011: Vice President Joe Biden tours Ener1 in Greenfield, Ind." title="January 26, 2011: Vice President Joe Biden tours Ener1 in Greenfield, Ind." hspace="7" align="center" /></p>
<p><strong>AP WASHINGTON</strong> –  The parent company of an electric car battery maker that received a $118 million grant from the Obama administration filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday.</p>
<p>New York-based Ener1 said it has been affected by competition from <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/topics/china.htm#r_src=ramp">China</a> and other countries.</p>
<p>Ener1 subsidiary EnerDel received a $118 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department in 2009, and Vice President <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/obama-administration/joe-biden.htm#r_src=ramp">Joe Biden</a> visited the <a id="KonaLink0" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/27/parent-obama-backed-battery-maker-goes-bankrupt/">company's</a> new battery plant in Indiana last year.</p>
<p>Ener1 is the third company to seek bankruptcy protection after receiving assistance from the Energy Department under the <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/economic-stimulus.htm#r_src=ramp">economic stimulus</a> law. California solar panel maker Solyndra Inc. and Beacon Power, a Massachusetts energy-storage firm, declared bankruptcy last year. Solyndra received a $528 million federal loan, while Beacon Power got a $43 million loan guarantee.</p>
<p>Solyndra, of Fremont, Calif., was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under the 2009 stimulus law, and the Obama administration frequently touted it as a model for its clean energy program.</p>
<p>Since then, the company's implosion and revelations that the administration hurried a review of the loan in time for a 2009 groundbreaking has become an embarrassment for President <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/obama-administration/barack-obama.htm#r_src=ramp">Barack Obama</a> and a rallying cry for GOP critics of the administration's green energy program.</p>
<p>The chairman of a House subcommittee that is investigating Solyndra said the latest <a id="KonaLink1" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/27/parent-obama-backed-battery-maker-goes-bankrupt/">bankruptcy</a> showed that the administration's clean energy program has failed.</p>
<p>"Unfortunately, you can now add Ener1 to the growing list of failed companies that went belly up after hundreds of millions of dollars in administration backing," said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.</p>
<p>"One bankruptcy may be a fluke, two could be coincidence, but three is a trend," Stearns said. "Our <a id="KonaLink2" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/27/parent-obama-backed-battery-maker-goes-bankrupt/">investigation</a> continues, and we are working to ensure taxpayers are never again stuck paying hundreds of millions of dollars because of the administration's risky bets."</p>
<p>An Energy Department spokeswoman said EnerDel had received $55 million so far under a program in which EnerDel matches federal investment dollar-for-dollar. Ener1 said in a statement that the restructuring would not affect EnerDel's operations. The company makes lithium-ion batteries for electric cars such as the <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/energy/chevrolet-volt.htm#r_src=ramp">Chevrolet Volt</a>.</p>
<p>"While it's unfortunate that Ener1, the parent company, has entered a restructuring process," a recent infusion of $80 million in private investment "demonstrates that the technology has merit," said Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department.</p>
<p>"The restructuring is not expected to impact EnerDel's operations and they do not expect to reduce employment at the site" near Indianapolis, Stutsman said.</p>
<p><br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/27/parent-obama-backed-battery-maker-goes-bankrupt/#ixzz1kfDytiEY">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/27/parent-obama-backed-battery-maker-goes-bankrupt/#ixzz1kfDytiEY</a></p>