US DOE re-charging efforts to make electric vehicle batteries cheaper, lighter
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Washington, DC (August 9, 2012)-
Last Thursday, August 2, the U.S.
Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) announced 19
“transformative” new projects that will
receive $43 million in funding from its
Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy
(ARPA-E) to advanced electric vehicle
technologies.
The majority of
the funding—$30 million—will be given to 12
of the projects which will focus on improving
the efficiency and performance of electric
drive vehicle batteries. These projects will
not go to R&D of alternative batteries;
rather, they will work with existing battery
chemistries and technologies for both plug-in
electric and hybrid vehicles. The remaining
seven projects will receive $13 million to
develop storage technologies in new electric
vehicle batteries. Overall, the funding will go
to companies in 14 states across the country,
including Eaton, Energy Storage Systems, Ford
Motor Company and GE Global Research, to name a
few.
“These cutting-edge projects
could transform our energy infrastructure,
dramatically reduce our reliance on imported
oil and increase American energy security,”
said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu during his
announcement of the funds for the new projects.
The Palo Alto Research Center
will receive the most funding for its project,
Smart Embedded Network of Sensors
with Optical Readout (SENSOR). The research
center will develop fiber-optic sensors for
batteries to monitor and measure battery
packs’ health while in use to avoid
degradation and failure.
You can find
all of the information on the funding for the
new projects the U.S. DOE announced in the
published project descriptions. You can
also read the full text of the U.S. DOE’s
news release here.