The Department of Energy's welcome solicitation for deployment of
small fleets of PHEVs has stimulated much discussion of how much
money it would really take to motivate a large carmaker (one that
already produces 10,000 or more vehicles in the US) to accelerate its
PHEV timetable. It has stimulated explorations of ways the federal
funds might be matched with state and private financing sources to
put together a much more substantial "carrot" in the range of $100M.

Meanwhile, there's been some confusion about whether the Department
of Energy has announced one or two programs. There's only one, -- but
it's been announced twice, the second time with two rounds of
applications. On Jan 7, 2008, we posted to CalCars-News, "US Energy
Dept Offers $10-$30+ Million for PHEV Demo Programs." We pointed to
the December 19 explanatory document saying, "Application Due Date: 4/30/2008."

Now here's the modified timetable from January 17, taken from the
document you can get to starting at
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=16298&mode=VIEW

"Applications must be received by February 13, 2008, no later than
8:00 PM Eastern Time to be considered for award under Round 1 of this
announcement. You are encouraged to transmit your application well
before the deadline. APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL
NOT BE REVIEWED OR CONSIDERED FOR AWARD under Round 1 of this
announcement. All applications received on or before February 13,
2008 will be considered for award under Round 1 only. To be
considered for award under Round 2 of the announcement, Round 2
applications must be received by April 30, 2008, no later than 8:00
PM Eastern Time."


PROJECT SUMMARY
You can read Green Car Congress's report and see comments at
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=16298&mode=VIEW

This is from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
EERE Network News, which you can see at
www.eere.energy.gov/news/enn.cfm and subscribe to at
http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/subscribe.cfm
Note that this newsletter description softens the requirement for
involving an existing carmaker: "must either involve a high-volume
vehicle manufacturer or a company with the capability of producing
vehicles in high volumes."

DOE Offers $30 Million for Developing Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles

DOE announced on January 17th that it is offering $30 million over
the next three years for companies to design and build plug-in hybrid
vehicles (PHEVs) and then test them in fleets located in
geographically diverse areas. The PHEVs must be able to travel at
least 10 miles using only their electric drives, although DOE would
prefer vehicles that come closer to achieving the goal of a 40-mile
electric range. The vehicles must be comparable to current production
vehicles in terms of emissions, safety, comfort, and performance, and
the projects must either involve a high-volume vehicle manufacturer
or a company with the capability of producing vehicles in high volumes.

The selected projects are intended to address many of the critical
barriers to achieving DOE's goal of making PHEVs cost-competitive by
2014 and ready for commercialization by 2016. PHEVs with a 40-mile
electric range would satisfy about 70% of all the average daily
travel in the United States. DOE will fund up to half the cost of the
selected projects, providing $7 million in fiscal year 2008 and an
additional $23 million in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, subject to
congressional appropriations. The first round of applications is due
on February 13, and a second round will be due on April 30. See the FOA.

DOE has also signed a Memorandum of Intent with the State of Michigan
and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) to
participate in a cooperative, pre-competitive research and
development (R&D) alliance called the United States Automotive
Partnership for Advancing Research and Technologies, or USAutoPARTs.
OESA includes the suppliers of components, modules, systems,
materials, and equipment used by the original equipment automotive
industry. The new alliance will initially consist of three research
consortia that will focus on lightweight materials; electrical and
electronic thermal management; and engine combustion and emission
after-treatment. Suppliers and others may choose to participate in
one or more of the research consortia. USAutoPARTs will be located in
Shelby Township, Michigan, in a 56,000-square-foot vehicle R&D center
that was formerly operated by Delphi Corporation. See the DOE press
release, the Vehicle Technologies Program Web site, and the
Memorandum of Intent for USAutoPARTS [URLs at online version of this
announcement].


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Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
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