Obama Announces $2.4 Billion in Grants for Batteries and Electric Cars
Original Source: http://www.treehugger.com
Author: Michael Graham Richard
Original Publication Date: 5 August 2009
48 Different Projects Will Share the Loot
President Obama was in Indiana today to announce how $2.4 billion dollars from the Recovery Act will be divided up between 48 different battery and electric vehicle projects. “With these investments, we’re planting the seeds of progress for our country and good-paying, private-sector jobs for the American people,” he said. Most of the grant winners are familiar names, with Detroit firms getting a substantial share. But who’s the biggest winner?
The first of two maps showing the location of the 48 projects that are funded.
So Where’s All That Money Going?
The money is going to three main categories of projects: 1) $1.5 billion goes to US-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components, 2) $500 million goes to US-based manufacturers that produce electric drive components for vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and other drive train components, and 3) $400 million in grants to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations in several dozen locations
The complete list of the 48 grants can be found here (pdf). Some of the highlights are:
Johnson Controls: $299.2 million for the production of nickel-cobalt-metal battery cells and packs, as well as production of battery separators (by partner Entek) for hybrid and electric vehicles.
A123 Systems: $249.1 million for the manufacturing of nano-iron phosphate cathode powder and electrode coatings; fabrication of battery cells and modules; and assembly of complete battery pack systems for hybrid and electric vehicles.
General Motors: $105.9 million for the production of high-volume battery packs for the GM Volt (the cells will be from LG Chem, Ltd. and other cell providers to be named), plus another $105 million for the construction of U.S. manufacturing capabilities to produce the second-generation GM global rear-wheel electric drive system. That’s not all. There’s also another $30.5 million to develop, analyze, and demonstrate hundreds of Chevrolet Volt Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREVs) –125 Volt PHEVs for electric utilities and 500 Volt PHEVs to consumers. (for a total of $241.4 million)
Ford: $62.7 million to produce a Ford electric drive transaxle with integrated power electronics in an existing Ford transmission facility, plus $30 million to accelerate the launch and commercialization of PHEVs and EVs by partnering with 15 of America’s leading utilities, and deploy up to 150 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, including 130 Ford Escape PHEVs and 20 Ford E450 Van PHEVs. (for a total of $92.7 million)
Chrysler: $70 million to develop, validate, and deploy 220 advanced plug-in hybrid electric pickups and minivans.
Compact Power (on behalf of LG Chem): $151.4 million for the production of lithium-ion polymer battery cells for the GM Volt using a manganese-based cathode material and a proprietary separator.
Electric Transportation Engineering Corp (ETEC): $99.8 million to demonstrate up to 5,000 Nissan electric vehicles with a 100 mile range and deploy up to 12,500 Level 2 and 250 Level 3 chargers.
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Comments
By Paul Scott on August 7th, 2009 at 5:19 am
There is no chicken and egg problem with charging. Those of us who have been driving EVs for many years will all attest to that. We charge at home at night while we sleep, always having 100-120 miles of range for our daily drive the next day. Our EV are our main car, the gas car sits unused except when we go on long trips, which is seldom.
It cost very little to hire an electrician to install a 240V line near where you park. If you park on the street, you'll need to have access to electricity where you work. Trust me, most parking lots will quickly install chargers as the number of EVs grows and people wanting to charge are willing to pay for the opportunity. Instead of money going to the oil companies, parking lot owners can install solar shade structures and offer to charge cars on sunshine while you are at work. We've been doing this in California for over a decade and it works fine.
We installed a 3 kW solar PV system on our house about 7 years ago, right before we got the EV, a Toyota RAV4 that was built by Toyota to be electric. For over 73,000 miles, we've had no problems at all. There has been no maintenance to speak of, and the car is faster than the gas version. By the way, this is the old nickel metal hydride batteries, the new lithium ion batteries will be better still.
Our electric bill averages about $100 per year, for both the house and the car. We haven't been to a gas station since December 2002. None of our money goes to the oil companies, and by extension, the Saudis.
Instead, we drive on sunshine.
If EVs aren't for you, fine, keep driving on gas. But for most Americans, these cars are going to be very popular.