US Offers Battery Company $671 Million For Georgia Plant (1)

The Biden administration is poised to loan nearly $671 million to Aspen Aerogels Inc. to make a key component of electric car batteries in the election battleground state of Georgia.

Aspen Aerogel shares surged as much as 20% in New York.

The conditional financing, being announced Wednesday by the US Energy Department, will fund construction of a new manufacturing plant producing thermal barriers that help prevent battery fires. It’s part of President Joe Biden’s push to build a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles and the advanced batteries that power them.

“We are making sure that the supply side is ...