New Battery to Last 10 Times As Long
Energy Grants Back Plug-In Cars, Ethanol By Sholnn Freeman Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, January 24, 2007; Page D03 The Department of Energy announced yesterday $17 million in grants to support the development of battery technology for plug-in hybrid vehicles and ethanol, two areas in the energy debate where officials in Washington and Detroit are closely aligned. The money will be offered as two grants, one for $14 million for the plug-in technology and the other for $3 million for ethanol. The money for battery development is intended to improve the technology's performance. The $3 million in ethanol grants will support engineering advances to improve how flex-fuel engines use the E85 blend… Foreign automakers are stepping up complaints that U.S. government policy is unfairly backing ethanol and plug-ins at the expense of diesels and traditional gas-electric hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius. Toyota is pushing to continue federal incentives for the cars. Diesel-engine makers and European automakers such as BMW and DaimlerChrysler are asking for more federal support for diesel technology http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012300870.html Ford Edge plug-in hybrid concept does 41mpg Mobilemag.com – USA. That HySeries Drive concept that was making the rounds at the Detroit Auto Show has been unleashed on the public in the form of the Ford Edge, launching the venerable American automaker firmly into the plug-in electric market. The new vehicle, running on a flexible powertrain, can guarantee up to 41mpg with no emissions. The innovative HySeries Drive uses a combination of gas engine, diesel engine, and fuel cell to achieve that rather remarkable mpg figure, which increases to 80 if you don't top 50 miles a day and, in the best cases, 400 miles between fill-ups.
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