The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $11 million in available funding to support development and demonstration of innovative alternative technologies for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, designed to help reduce U.S. reliance on gasoline, diesel and oil imports.
The funding opportunity includes two areas of interest:
1) The research, development and demonstration of electric-drive powertrain technologies for medium- and heavy-duty plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) that reduce fuel consumption by at least 50% when compared to an equivalent vehicle with a conventional internal combustion engine powertrain driven on a comparable duty cycle. The developed technology must utilize an electric motor for all or part of the motive power required by the vehicle to meet its duty cycle.
2) The demonstration of the performance and reliability of commercially available dual-fuel heavy-duty vehicles equipped with engines capable of operation using a mixture of diesel fuel and gaseous fuels, such as natural gas or propane autogas, and the associated emissions control systems.
Data collected from these activities will be analyzed by the DOE's National Laboratories and used to identify technology barriers and inform future efforts.
Applicants must submit a concept paper by Oct. 8 to be eligible to submit a full application, which is due Nov. 19. There will also be a related webinar on Sept. 23, and interested parties can register here.
More information about this funding opportunity is available here.
