The US Department of Energy will contribute up to $30 million over three years for three cost-shared Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) demonstration and development projects.
The DOE says the projects will accelerate the development of PHEVs capable of traveling up to 40 miles without recharging, which includes most daily roundtrip commutes and satisfies 70 percent of the average daily travel in the US.
The projects will also address barriers to achieving DOE’s goal of making PHEVs cost-competitive by 2014 and ready for commercialization by 2016, the department says.
DOE also announced the addition of one alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle to its fleet — a Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Flex-Fuel Vehicle, which will be used to transport DOE employees to official events and meetings in the Washington, D.C. area.
Last year the DOE’s university-based Industrial Assessment Centers and NISTs Manufacturing Extension Partnership began working together to improve the energy efficiency, environmental performance and global competitiveness of small and mid-sized manufacturers.
Earlier this year, the DOE said announced plans to pull support of a $1.8 billion FutureGen project to build a power plant that captures pollution underground.