WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that it will provide up to $14 million in funding for a $28 million cost-shared solicitation by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) battery development.  This research aims to find solutions to improving battery performance so vehicles can deliver up to 40 miles of electric range without recharging.  This would include most roundtrip daily commutes.

“President Bush is committed to developing alternative fuels and energy-saving innovations for an improved and diversified array of vehicle technologies,” Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said. “By improving batteries for plug-in hybrids, we can help achieve the President’s goal of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent within the decade.

This research builds on President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, which aims to change the way we power our homes, offices, and automobiles.  In addition, the President proposed his Twenty in Ten plan, targeting a twenty percent reduction in gasoline usage by 2017 through greater use of alternative fuels and increased vehicle efficiency.

DOE and USABC seek to identify electrochemical storage technologies capable of meeting or approaching USABC’s criteria for performance, weight, life-cycle, and cost.  Other considerations include the potential to commercialize proposed battery technologies and bring them to market quickly. 

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program leads the Department’s efforts to bring PHEVs to market and works with industry to develop advanced transportation technologies that will reduce the nation’s use of imported oil.  The development of a lower cost, high-energy battery has been identified as a critical pathway toward commercialization of PHEVs.

USABC is a consortium of the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), the umbrella organization for collaborative research among DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation.  Supported by a cooperative agreement with the DOE, USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of fuel cell, hybrid, and electric vehicles. 

A copy of USABC’s request for proposal information can be downloaded at: http://www.uscar.org/guest/article_view.php?articles_id=87  The submission deadline is Thursday, May 31, 2007.  For more information on DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Program, visit: http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/. 

USCAR Contact: Susan Bairley, (248) 223-9023 OR sbairley@uscar.org.

Media contact(s):
Julie Ruggiero, (202) 586-4940