U.S. DOE to Invest Nearly $55 Million in Clean Vehicle Technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will invest nearly $55 million for 24 projects to develop and deploy clean vehicle technologies. DOE says these technologies will play a key role in increasing fuel efficiency and reducing petroleum consumption. Although most of the funding is going toward EV technology to support the “EV Everywhere Grand Challenge,” funding has also been awarded to projects to advance natural gas engines.

Eight projects are aimed at improvements including developing and demonstrating dual-fuel or dedicated natural gas engine technologies for high-efficiency medium and heavy duty vehicles to reduce petroleum usage and developing advanced computational fluid dynamics models. These projects include $1,756,225 awarded to Robert Bosch in Farmington Hills, Michigan, to develop and demonstrate a high-efficiency spark-ignited natural gas engine and develop a hybrid three-way catalyst (TWC)-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) exhaust after-treatment system to maximize engine efficiency at a significantly lower cost than competing, diesel-based, dual-fuel approaches.

Building on the SuperTruck activity, other projects aim at developing enabling technologies to improve the efficiency of heavy duty trucks. Many of these projects, which include advanced light-weight materials, will also benefit natural gas vehicles by further improving their efficiency and fuel economy.

“The deployment of these technologies will give Americans more options when they are choosing a vehicle, while also creating jobs and cutting harmful carbon emissions,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.