PROGRAM HISTORY/ BACKGROUND
America’s energy security is dependent largely on the efficiency and fuel choices made for the transportation sector. The transportation sector, in turn, has a significant influence on the nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Our highway vehicles use more petroleum products than our country produces domestically. As transportation energy use continues to grow, the situation will only worsen. Domestic oil production has been steadily declining for over two decades and oil imports are expected to reach 70% by 2025. Oil imports have been a growing problem, because petroleum resources are distant from most of the world’s consumers, unevenly distributed globally, and concentrated in regions with political or environmental sensitivities. Not only is the U.S. demand for oil growing, but the global demand in both industrialized and developing countries is increasing rapidly, especially in countries such as China and India where the growth in motor vehicles is far outpacing that of the United States.
In collaboration with industry, national laboratories, universities, state governments, and other federal agencies, the FCVT Program supports R&D on advanced vehicle technologies and fuels that could dramatically reduce and eventually eliminate the demand for petroleum, decrease emissions of criteria air pollutants and greenhouse gases, and enable the U.S. transportation industry to sustain a strong, competitive position in domestic and world markets. The FCVT Program, in conjunction with the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, advances technologies to improve vehicle fuel efficiency in the mid term and to facilitate the transition to hybrid fuel cell vehicles over the long term. The FreedomCar and Fuel Partnership consists of the United States Department of Energy,(DOE, BP America, Chevron Corporation, Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Shell Hydrogen LLC, and the United States Council for Automotive Research—a legal partnership among Daimler Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation.
The FCVT Program’s approach to implementing R&D activities emphasizes jointly funded partnerships with academia and industry to develop and validate technologies. This approach ensures that (1) the nation’s best resources are applied to R&D activities, (2) maximum technology transfer will take place, and (3) government resources will be leveraged by those of academia and industry.
The scope of this Funding Opportunity Announcement is limited to R&D in the power electronics and electrical machines program area. Mass market acceptance of advanced hybrid electric vehicles including plug-in HEV, internal combustion engine HEV, and fuel cell vehicles depends on achieving significantly reduced cost, weight, and volume of electric propulsion systems.
Read about more funding by the DOE here
posted by Rob and Liz @ 5:49 PM
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