US invests $175m in advanced-vehicle R&D

The US Department of Energy (DOE) plans to spend more than $175 million over the next three to five years to speed up the development of electric cars and other advanced vehicle technologies.

Funding is set to go to 40 projects across 15 states working to improve the fuel efficiency of next-generation vehicles. The goal is to help ensure the necessary technologies are available to help automakers meet stricter fuel efficiency standards.

In July, President Barack Obama announced new standards for cars and light trucks that will bring fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by model year 2025. The stricter standards are expected to reduce the nation’s oil consumption by 12 billion barrels by 2025 and save motorists $1.7 trillion at the pump.  This week, the administration also announced first-of-their-kind fuel-efficiency standards for work trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles. The changes are aimed at saving businesses around $50 billion in fuel costs over the life of the program.

The DOE’s new $175-million investment focuses on eight approaches to improving vehicle efficiency:

• Advanced fuels and lubricants: Eight projects awarded to improve fuels and lubricants to enable optimal performance of advanced combustion engines.
• Light-weighting materials: Five projects awarded to accelerate commercial availability of lighter-weight vehicles using advanced materials that dramatically reduce vehicle weight while maintaining the highest safety standards.
• Light weight multi-material prototype: Two projects awarded to design, build, and test a light-weight vehicle that is 50 percent lighter than a baseline light-duty vehicle.  These projects are being undertaken as part of the Clean Energy Dialogue with Canada.
• Advanced cells and design technology for electric drive batteries: Twelve projects awarded to develop high energy or high power batteries for electric vehicles that should significantly exceed existing state-of-the-art technologies in terms of performance and/or cost.
• Advanced power electronics and electric motor technology: Four projects awarded to develop the next generation of power inverters and electric motors to meet demanding performance targets while achieving significant cost reductions.
• Thermoelectric and enabling engine technology: Three projects awarded to improve the efficiency of thermoelectric devices to convert engine waste heat to electricity. Selections of projects to develop early-stage enabling engine technologies to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions are expected in September.
• Fleet efficiency: Five projects awarded to develop and demonstrate fuel efficient tire and driver feedback technologies that will improve efficiency of the passenger car and commercial fleet.
• Advanced vehicle testing and evaluation: One project awarded to conduct laboratory and field evaluations of advanced technology vehicles and related infrastructure, while developing new or modified test procedures.

The awards include $14 million to General Motors (two projects), $10 million to the Chrysler Group, $6 million to General Electric, $3.7 million to Johnson Controls, $3 million to A123 Systems, $2.7 million to the Ford Motor Company (two projects) and nearly $2.5 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (two projects).