cryptogon.com

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the list of 48 grant recipients Wednesday in what is being called the largest ever investment in hybrid and electric car advanced battery technology. The grants, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, target U.S.-based manufacturers, automakers, universities, and battery developers in a bid to put a million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

The grants are divided into three areas: $1.5 billion to help U.S. manufacturers produce batteries and grow recycling capacity; $500 million toward U.S. production of electric drive components; and $400 million for education and workforce training, and the purchase and testing of electric vehicles in multiple locations.

Recipients, which agree to match the grant funds, span more than 20 states but are not surprisingly concentrated in existing auto manufacturing hubs such as Michigan and Indiana. Projects include truck stop electrification, hydrothermal lithium ion battery recycling, electric minivan and pickup truck development and deployment, and community college education for aspiring service technicians.

In the largest single grant awarded, Johnson Controls will receive $299.2 million to help fund the production of nickel-cobalt-metal battery cells and packs, which represents about half of the company’s $600 million planned investment in domestic advanced battery development. The State of Michigan also awarded the company $148.5 million in incentives in April for a lithium-ion cell and battery system manufacturing plant in Holland, southwest of Grand Rapids.

General Motors received a combined $241.4 million in grants for the production of the battery packs that will power the Chevy Volt, demonstration of the highly anticipated plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and the construction of manufacturing capacity for its rear-wheel electric drive system.