DOE to award more than $55M to 31 projects for plug-in and efficient vehicle technologies; Delphi receives $10M to further GDCI
14 August 2014
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding more than $55 million to 31 new projects to accelerate research and development of vehicle technologies that will improve fuel efficiency and reduce costs under a program-wide funding opportunity announced in January. (DE-FOA-0000991, earlier post.) These new projects are aimed at meeting the goals and objectives of the President’s EV Everywhere Grand Challenge (19 projects), as well as improvements in other vehicle technologies such as powertrains, fuel, tires and auxiliary systems (12 projects).
The largest single award ($10 million) goes to Delphi Automotive Systems to further the development of its Gasoline Direct-Injection Compression Ignition (GDCI) low-temperature combustion technology (earlier post) that provides high thermal efficiency with low NOx and PM emissions. The largest number of awards (9) in a single area of interest goes to developing beyond Li-ion battery technologies.
Through the Advanced Vehicle Power Technology Alliance with the Energy Department, the Department of the Army is contributing an additional $3.7 million in co-funding to support projects focused on beyond lithium-ion battery technologies and reducing friction and wear in the powertrain. The Army will also test and evaluate fuel-efficient tires resulting from projects at its facilities in Warren, Michigan. The project selections are in 14 areas of interest that fall under two major topic areas:
Critical technologies to meet the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge. Nineteen projects are aimed at reducing the cost and improving the performance of key PEV components. This includes improving “beyond lithium-ion technologies” that use higher energy storage materials, and developing and commercializing wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors that offer significant advances in performance while reducing the price of vehicle power electronics. Other projects focus on advancing lightweight materials research to help electric vehicles increase their range and reduce battery needs, and developing advanced climate control technologies that reduce energy used for passenger comfort and increase the drive range of plug-in electric vehicles.
Fuel efficiency improvements in passenger vehicles and commercial trucks. Twelve projects are aimed at improvements including developing and demonstrating dual-fuel/bi-fuel technologies to reduce petroleum usage, accelerating growth in high-efficiency, cost-competitive engine and powertrain systems for light-duty vehicles, and accelerating the introduction of advanced lubricants and coatings to increase the efficiency of vehicles on the road today as well as future vehicles.
| Applicant | Description | Federal $ |
|---|---|---|
| Development of Low-cost, High Strength Automotive Aluminum Sheet (Area of Interest 1) | ||
| Alcoa, Inc. | This project will develop a high strength aluminum alloy with a recycle-friendly composition and more energy-efficient thermomechanical processes during casting and rolling. | $2,391,770 |
| Xtalic Corp. | This project will develop an electroformed nanostructured aluminum sheet material, including the build and test of a vehicle component. | $2,500,000 |
| Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) Development of Carbon Fiber Composites for Lightweight Vehicles (Area of Interest 2) | ||
| Ford Motor Company | This project will develop, integrate and implement predictive models for Carbon-Fiber Reinforced Polymer composites that link the material design, molding process and final performance. | $6,000,000 |
| Beyond Lithium Ion Technologies (Area of Interest 3) | ||
| Michigan State University | This project will demonstrate polycrystalline membranes in Li-metal and Li-sulfur batteries that support current densities approaching that of defect-free crystals. |  $1,233,555 |
| Stanford University | This project will use nanomaterials to improve the interface between lithium metal anodes and the electrolytes to improve the cycle life of lithium metal batteries. | $1,350,000 |
| University of Pittsburgh | This project will develop and scale up synthesis of high capacity cathodes by high-throughput cost-effective approaches. | $1,250,061 (DOE/Army) |
| State University of New York | This project will replace the carbon anode with a Sn-Fe-C composite with twice the volumetric energy density of carbon, and provide a high energy cathode. | $1,221,125 |
| Liox Power | This project will develop high specific energy, high power and highly reversible Li-air batteries that are based on the concept of replacing traditional electrolytes in the air electrode with a stable inorganic molten salt electrolyte. | $1,500,000 |
| University of Maryland | This project will utilize a multifaceted and integrated (experimental and computational) approach to solve the key issue in solid-state Li-ion batteries, interfacial impedance, with a focus on Garnet-based solid-state electrolytes. | $1,212,877 (DOE/Army) |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | This project will utilize nanoindentation to determine mechanical properties and identify the causes of premature failures at the protected lithium interface. | $1,000,000 (DOE/Army) |
| Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station | This project will improve the design of the electrolyte chemistry and cathode architecture of Li-sulfur batteries based on the development of the “internal shuttle effect” obtained from first-principles atomistic and mesoscopic modeling. | $990,000 |
| Brookhaven National Lab | This project will develop a low-cost, anodeless Li-sulfur battery technology utilizing the Dual Functional Cathode Additives concept and able to deliver energy densities relevant for PEV applications. | $1,500,000 (DOE/Army) |
| Commercialization of Power Electronics for Electric Traction Drives Using Wide Band Gap (WBG) Semiconductors (Area of Interest 4) | ||
| Cree, Inc. | his project will evaluate an 88kW SiC inverter with next generation 900V SiC MOSFET technology. | $1,937,752 |
| Delta Products Corp. | This project will develop a high efficiency high density GaN based 6.6 kW bi-directional on-board charger for plug-in electric vehicles. | $1,487,593 |
| Tire Efficiency (Area of Interest 5) | ||
| PPG Industries, Inc. | This project will develop novel surface modified silica technology to improve dispersion in natural and synthetic rubber for fuel-efficient truck and bus tires. | $939,950 |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | This project will reduce the rolling resistance and enhance the wear resistance of tires by synergistically combining graphene nanoplatelets and silica nanofibers in the rubber composite. | $1,000,000 |
| Multi-Speed Gearbox for Commercial Delivery Medium Duty Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicles (Area of Interest 6) | ||
| Eaton Corp. | This project will develop a new transmission, controller and shift strategy to match the bidirectional performance characteristics of a motor/generator and improve top speed, efficiency and acceleration of medium duty plug-in electric vehicles.  | $2,999,755 |
| Advanced Climate Control Auxiliary Load Reduction (Area of Interest 7) | ||
| Delphi Automotive Systems | This project will develop a total thermal management solution for electric vehicles using a compact refrigerant loop, a coolant-based thermal energy distribution network and waste heat harvesting from the power electronics. | $2,536,303 |
| National Renewable Energy Laboratory | This project will develop a multi-technology, complete-car solution for minimizing thermal loads and their impact on plug-in electric vehicle range and performance. | $2,433,800 |
| Development of High Performance Low Temperature Catalysts for Exhaust Aftertreatment (Area of Interest 8) | ||
| Chrysler Group LLC | This project will develop new catalysts to demonstrate a minimum of 90% conversion efficiency of engine produced NOx during portions of the FTP test near 150 °C. | $1,500,000 |
| Ford Motor Company | This project will demonstrate new low-temperature catalyst materials that are sufficiently durable to meet full useful life emissions targets while minimizing fuel economy penalties and costs. | $1,352,376 |
| Dual-Fuel Technologies (Area of Interest 9) | ||
| Argonne National Laboratory | This project will develop light-duty, spark-ignition engines with natural gas direction injection and gasoline port fuel injection systems. | $1,000,000 |
| Fuel Property Impacts on Combustion (Area of Interest 10) | ||
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | This project will use realistic potential future gasoline formulations to optimize an engine equipped with mainstream technologies. | $1,000,000 |
| Southwest Research Institute | This project will develop Dedicated EGR technology with potential oxygenates (ethanol, n-Butanol, iso-butanol) to enhance production of H2 via in-cylinder reformation. | $793,913 |
| Argonne National Laboratory | This project will develop new fuel quality metrics for low-temperature combustion in a gasoline direct-injection engine and quantify the impacts of fuel properties on combustion performance.  | $1,000,000 |
| Powertrain Friction and Wear Reduction (Area of Interest 11A) | ||
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | This project will develop oil-miscible ionic liquid additized lubricants with surface texturing and topographical control for engine and rear-axle applications. | $1,276,000 (DOE/Army) |
| The George Washington University | This project will develop formulations for SAE 0W- 16 low viscosity lubricant with microencapsulated additives and surface textures to enhance durability of engine components. | $1,000,000 (DOE/Army) |
| Powertrain Friction and Wear Reduction (Area of Interest 11B) | ||
| Ricardo, Inc. | This project will develop tools to predict both friction reductions and wear rates from a combination of lab-scale tests, model predictions and improved correlations. | $1,040,000 (DOE/Army) |
| Advanced Technology Powertrains For Light-Duty Vehicles Phase 2 (ATP-2) (Area of Interest 12) | ||
| Delphi Automotive Systems, LLC. | This project will develop a low temperature combustion technology called Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition that provides high thermal efficiency with low NOx and PM emissions. | $10,000,000 |
| Dual-Fuel/Bi-Fuel Class 8 Vehicle Technologies (Area of Interest 13) | ||
| Clean Air Power | This project will develop a dual-fuel approach for heavy-duty engines by replacing diesel fuel with natural gas as the primary fuel while maintaining overall engine efficiency and performance. |  $1,735,194 |
| Early Market Commercialization Opportunities (Area of Interest 14) | ||
| Eaton Corp. | This project will demonstrate an electric variable-speed supercharger operating with energy from a waste heat recovery system on a small gasoline engine. | $1,749,820 |
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