Big Three get electric car battery funding

Posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 1:53 PM EDT.

Chrysler Group, Ford and GM have received more than $600 million to further development of battery technology for hybrids and electric cars, a story in Reuters said.

The awards were part of $2.4 billion in grants being announced Wednesday by the Obama administration as part of its “Green” economy vision and efforts to enhance U.S. energy independence.

According to the story, almost all battery manufacturing for advanced technology vehicles is currently based in Asia.

White House economic and Energy Department officials said 48 projects in 25 states would receive money under a deal that requires winners to match the federal investment.

Reuters reported that U.S.-based companies will receive $1.5 billion to produce batteries and components and expand battery recycling capabilities. An additional $500 million will go to producing electric motors and other drive train components. The final $400 million will pay for testing plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles.

Chrysler is working with A123 Systems and set to receive $249 million, the story said. (Reuters)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 1:53 PM EDT and is filed under Electric Vehicles. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comments are currently closed.