Following months of anticipation, President Barack Obama has finally announced 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will receive a total of $2.4billion in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The announcement is the largest investment in battery technology for hybrid and electric vehicles ever made, and it is intended to accelerate the development of US manufacturing capacity for batteries and electric drive components as well as the deployment of electric drive vehicles.
The awards will cover the following areas:
- - $1.5billion will go to US-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components as well as to expand battery recycling capacity.
- - $500million will go towards grants for US-based manufacturers to produce electric drive components for vehicles – these will include power electronics, electric motors and other drive train components.
- - $400million for grants to purchase plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations in several dozen locations.
Among the most significant award recipients are companies and universities in Michigan which will receive $1billion of the grants. A123Systems and Johnson Controls will pick up $550million to establish a manufacturing base for advanced batteries; while Compact Power and Dow Kokam will receive more than $300million for manufacturing battery cells and materials.
If you’d like to read a full list of the award recipients, click here.
