DOE Provides up to $19M for Advanced Vehicle Technologies

June 5, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

Combined with industry's cost share, projects selected for negotiation of awards total $33.8 million (fiscal years 2007-20010).

The five projects are designed to support advanced power electronics and electric motor technologies to help bring advanced PHEV, HEV and FCV applications to market in support of President Bush's Twenty in Ten plan, which seeks to reduce U.S. gas consumption by 20% within the decade by increasing the use of alternative and renewable sources of energy and modernizing the current Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards, according to the DOE.

Projects will focus on reducing the cost, weight and size of electric drive and power conversion devices while also increasing vehicle efficiency. Selected projects focus on advancing research in four areas:

• High-temperature three-phase inverters.
• High-speed motors.
• Integrated traction drive systems.
• Bidirectional direct current (DC)/DC converters.

Selected projects include:

Delphi Automotive Systems - selected for negotiation of an award of up to $4.9 million for high-temperature three-phase inverter research. Three-phase inverters control and regulate the speed of electric motors. Other team members include Dow Corning, GE Global Research, GeneSiC, Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - selected for negotiation of an award of up to $1.7 million for a project that will focus on developing an advanced softswitching inverter for reducing switching and power losses. Other team members include Azure Dynamics, Powerex and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

General Electric Global Research - selected for negotiation of an award of up to $3.4 million for work on developing high-speed electric motors. Specifically, this work will focus on increasing the traction motor drive power density and efficiency at reduced costs for PHEVs, HEVs and FCVs by developing an electric motor of at least 55 kilowatt peak power and capable of high speed operation - with a goal of at least 14,000 revolutions per minute (RPM). Team members include GE Motors and the University of Wisconsin.

General Motors Corp. - selected for negotiation of an award of up to $7.9 million for development of a combined traction motor and power electronic inverter for PHEV, HEV and FCV. This aims to lower the cost, weight and package volume and increase efficiency. Team members include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Ames National Laboratory, Arnold Magnetics, Encap Technologies, Isothermal Systems Research and AVX.

U.S. Hybrid Corp. - selected for an award of up to $1.3 million for a bidirectional DC/DC converter for PHEVs. This work will include a vehicle system study to determine the optimum operating battery and DC-link voltages, allowing for higher efficiency and lower costs. Team members include University of Illinois, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and SiCED.

Advancing vehicle technologies is a significant part of the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program, which aims to develop vehicle technologies and alternative fuels that could reduce the demand for petroleum, decrease emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases and enable the U.S. transportation industry to sustain a strong, competitive position in domestic and world markets, said the DOE.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).