DOE Announces Up to $29.3M in Projects for R&D, Demonstration of Alternative Vehicle Tech

December 16, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

Private sector contributions will increase the financial investment for a total of up to $29.3 million.

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The selections are part of the DOE's continuing work to develop high-efficiency vehicle technologies and are not part of the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

The projects selected directly support the DOE goal to protect the U.S.'s national and economic security by promoting a diverse supply and delivery of reliable, affordable and environmentally sound alternative energy.

The projects were selected under three topic areas:

Lithium-ion Battery Materials and Manufacturing
Three projects will focus on improving battery material performance and developing manufacturing processes to increase performance and decrease cost of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) batteries. PHEVs are hybrid vehicles that can be driven in electric-only mode and recharged from a standard electric outlet. They provide fuel diversity and decreased petroleum consumption.

The acceleration of lithium-ion battery development is a key step in the successful commercialization of PHEVs capable of traveling up to 40 miles without recharging. These three projects total up to $13.9 million in cost-shared cooperative agreements with a DOE share of up to $6.85 million, subject to annual appropriations.

• 3M Company has been selected for negotiation of an award for a three-year, up to $2.7 million (DOE share of up to $1.35 million) project aimed at developing advanced negative electrode materials for PHEV lithium-ion batteries. The novel anode alloy material will result in higher battery capacity while maintaining good charge/discharge performance.

• Basf Catalyst LLC has been selected for a 30-month, up to $5.0 million (DOE share of up to $2.5 million) project to develop an industrial process for domestic production of low-cost, lithium-ion battery cathode materials. Basf will use low-cost precursors and known industrial methods to reduce the cost of lithium-ion battery materials. They will partner with Farasis Energy Inc.

• Fmc Corporation has been selected for a three-year, up to $6.2 million (DOE share of up to $3.0 million) award for scaling up production of stabilized lithium metal powder for high energy lithium-ion battery cathodes. These powders can be used to produce battery cells with reduced losses during the initial cell charging.

Thermoelectric Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
Two projects were selected to accelerate the development of thermoelectric (TE) systems that provide the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) in vehicles. The use of solid state TE devices to heat and cool a vehicle's passenger compartment can increase vehicle efficiency by reducing engine load; by reducing or eliminating the need for conventional air conditioning refrigerants, these vehicles further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

TE HVAC enables the use of distributed cooling/heating units that cool/heat the occupants rather than the whole cabin and its components. While applicable to all commercial and passenger vehicles, TE HVAC is particularly attractive for hybrids and plug-in hybrids where an electrically driven air conditioning system can maintain occupant comfort even when the engine is off. These two projects total up to $13 million in cost-shared cooperative agreements with a DOE share of up to $6.5 million.

• Ford Motor Company has been selected for a 36-month, up to $8.4 million (DOE share of up to $4.2 million) project to accelerate the deployment of light-duty automotive thermoelectric HVAC technology. This work will focus on the development of a zonal TE HVAC system while reducing energy consumption of existing HVAC systems by one third. Partners include Visteon, Bsst Thermoelectric Temperature Control Solutions, DOE National Energy Renewable Laboratory and Ohio State University.

• General Motors Corporation has been selected for a 36-month, up to $4.6 million (DOE share of up to $2.3 million) project to develop a system that provides thermal comfort equivalent to current HVAC systems while using significantly less energy. The team will design, test and evaluate the thermoelectric system components and then integrate the components into a demonstration vehicle for testing and evaluation. Partners include Delphi Thermal Systems, University of California at Berkeley and University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

Aerodynamic Heavy-Duty Truck Trailers
One project, with a total value of up to $2 million (DOE share of up to $1 million) was selected to accelerate the development, evaluation and deployment of advanced aerodynamic trailers that can significantly reduce fuel consumption of heavy-duty tractor trailers.

• Navistar International Corporation has been selected for a 30-month project that will design, demonstrate and bring to market a tractor trailer combination and tire package that can reduce the fuel consumption of a heavy vehicle by at least 15%. Following development, a commercial fleet will evaluate the benefits of the new technology package through real-world use. After the term of the project, the team members will make this fuel-efficient technology package available for sale. Team members include Frito Lay, Kentucky Trailer, Freight Wing, Michelin and the DOE Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).