$2.4 Billion Grant in support of U.S. Batteries and Electric Vehicles
August 10, 2009On 5th August 2009, President Obama announced 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will receive $2.4 billion in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects, selected through a highly competitive process by the Department of Energy, will accelerate the development of U.S. manufacturing capacity for batteries and electric drive components as well as the deployment of electric drive vehicles. “If we want to reduce our dependence on oil, put Americans back to work and reassert our manufacturing sector as one of the greatest in the world, we must produce the advanced, efficient vehicles of the future,” said President Obama. The new awards cover the following areas: -$1.5 billion in grants to United States-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity -$500 million in grants to United States-based manufacturers to produce electric drive components for vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and other drive train components -$400 million in grants to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations in several dozen locations; to deploy them and evaluate their performance; to install electric charging infrastructure; and to provide education and workforce training to support the transition [...]