Green Stimulus Funding Boosts Hybrid Electric Vehicle Industry

As noted in this template article, the $2.4 billion of stimulus funding is the largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles, and it stands as much-needed relief for U.S. automakers amidst the strain of severe financial losses and increased future fuel efficiency and emissions standards.  It is also designed to keep American automakers competitive, as the global industry shifts more towards electric vehicles.

President Obama announced 48 new advanced battery and electric vehicle projects in early August that will receive $2.4 billion of the $61.3 billion in overall green energy funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or Stimulus package. The Recovery Act legislative drive drew the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who died on Tuesday, heroically back to Washington, D.C. in early February 2009, so he could voice his support prior to the official vote, amidst his battle with brain cancer. Now that the Cash for Clunkers program has passed, the auto industry can really roll up their sleeves and pursue genuine green technology enhancements while capitalizing on long-term green investment opportunities. This initiative is focused on facilitating the manufacturing and commercialization of electric vehicles, batteries, and components in the United States (U.S.) and hoped to generate tens of thousands of new green jobs. Improved energy storage technology is also a key issue for large-scale utility renewable energy sources such as solar and wind; however, it has received significantly less emphasis in the overall field.

 

Both President Obama and Vice-President Biden have reiterated the critical impact this green energy stimulus funding will have on reducing America’s reliance on foreign oil, while alleviating the effects of the recession in addition to strengthening the U.S. auto industry and overall sustainable economic growth of the country over the next five to ten years. The Recovery Act was not entirely designed for immediate relief to the recession, as part of its intent was to prevent re-occurring boom and bust cycles that have often plagued the U.S. economy, over a double-digit percent of the time since data has been recorded. 

 

Interestingly enough, the discussion over reducing foreign oil imports truly came to light during the end of former President Bush’s term in office, as oil prices skyrocketed and T. Boone Pickens ramped up his American energy independence and wind energy campaign, which blanketed commercial TV coverage for several months. The stimulus funding will help achieve the president's goal of enabling one million plug-in hybrid vehicles to be driven by 2015, which will ultimately reduce the impact of global warming by virtue of lessened carbon emissions. 

 

This $2.4 billion of funding is the largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles, and it stands as much-needed relief for U.S. automakers amidst the strain of severe financial losses and increased future fuel efficiency and emissions standards.  It is also designed to keep American automakers competitive, as the global industry shifts more towards electric vehicles.

 

In summary, the Department of Energy (DOE) awards include the following areas:

 

1. $1.5 billion in grants to American-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity
2. $500 million in grants to American-based manufacturers to produce electric drive components for vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and other drive train components
3. $400 million in grants to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for initial demonstrations at tens of locations; to deploy them and evaluate their performance; to install electric charging capacity; and to offer education and training to facilitate the transition to advanced electric transportation systems.

 

Major automakers based in Michigan, including the Big Three of General Motors (GM), Chrysler, and Ford will receive a total of more than $400 million to manufacture thousands of advanced hybrid and electric vehicles as well as batteries and electric drive components. The complete list of award winners is available here along with a map of their locations. 

 

G.M.’s vice chairman, Tom Stephens, announced recently that a Buick plug-in electric vehicle will be available in 2011; it will be preceded by a gasoline-powered version of the compact, five-passenger S.U.V. that will be released in 2010. In essence, both products were enabled to some extent by past DOE funding. G.M. has stated that the unnamed yet greener Buick will be the “first commercially available plug-in hybrid produced by a major automaker.” The plug-in hybrid will have an 8 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, using the same lithium manganese spinel cells as the Chevrolet Volt but with condensed power-pack dimensions. 

 

In addition, the Buick hybrid’s gas engine will be a 3.6-liter V-6 that will be flex-fuel capable, meaning its fuel tank is compatible with mixtures of ethanol biofuel and gasoline. Biofuels in general also received a significant portion of green stimulus funding. The Buick hybrid also features two electric motors, and G.M. claims that the battery pack can be recharged in less than five hours at 110 volts. As a result, a fuel efficiency of more than 70 miles a gallon, which is approximately twice that of its gas-powered counterparts, is being quoted. The Buick S.U.V. is also being designed to be able to run for up to 10 miles in electric-only mode but only at low speeds, which are not conducive for driving on interstates and major highways.

 

In comparison to G.M., Ford Motor Company has been pushing the envelope on electric car technology as well. Since 2007, Ford and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an independent non-profit organization, have expanded their partnership with a three-year plan to develop and evaluate technical approaches for integrating plug-in electric vehicles into the nation's electric grid system, which is a critical issue on the agenda for pervasive adoption of the vehicles in the market. Ford announced this month that it has developed an “intelligent” vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that is linked directly to the nation's electric grid, which is subsequently being funded for the development of a new infrastructure. 

 

This new technology, which is a derivative of Ford's advancements such as SYNC, SmartGauge with EcoGuide and Ford Work Solutions, allows the vehicle operator to program the recharging characteristics at a particular utility rate using wireless networking, and this is a feature that will be enhanced upon inception of “smart” power grid technology. All 21 of Ford's fleet of plug-in hybrid Escapes will ultimately be equipped with the vehicle-to-grid communications technology. 

 

In regards to other green energy stimulus funding, Ford was recently selected for two grants from the DOE via its vehicle electrification program. The DOE program is focused on accelerating mass volumes of electrified vehicles and vehicle-to-grid infrastructure development. For example, one particular $30 million grant will support Ford's collaboration with utility partners across the U.S. with an expansion of a vehicle demonstration and grid integration program. Also, Ford will receive a $62.7 million matching DOE grant for production of an electric-drive transaxle for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles at Ford's Van Dyke transmission manufacturing facility in Sterling Heights, Michigan. DOE grant funds also will support production of electric-drive system components at Ford supplier, Magna, for the Ford Focus battery electric vehicle, in addition to Johnson Controls-Saft, who will supply high-voltage batteries for Ford's plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012. 

 

Ford plans to invest nearly $14 billion in advanced technology vehicles in the next seven years, transforming its U.S. plants to offer fuel-efficient vehicles in order to meet the U.S.-mandated fuel economy and emissions requirements starting in 2016. The green revolution is encompassing the U.S. auto industry, in addition to the nation’s energy and green building sector at both the residential and commercial level.

 

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