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The FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) was a national
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy. Formed from other energy agencies after the 1973 energy crisis, EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency an ...
program developing more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly highway transportation technologies to enable the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to use less petroleum. Run by Michael Berube, it had long-term aims to develop " leap-frog" technologies to provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and
energy security Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption (as opposed to household energy insecurity). Access to cheaper energy has become essential to the functioning of modern ...
, lower costs, and reduce environmental impacts.


Office

The office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) was in the
US Department of Energy US or Us most often refers to: * Us (pronoun), ''Us'' (pronoun), the objective case of the English first-person plural pronoun ''we'' * US, an abbreviation for the United States US, U.S., Us, us, or u.s. may also refer to: Arts and entertainme ...
.


Clean Cities Program

The Clean Cities Program was part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Its mission was to advance the US economic, environmental, and energy security by supporting local decisions to adopt practices to contribute to the reduction of petroleum consumption. Clean Cities carried out that mission through a network of more than 80 volunteer coalitions, which developed public and private partnerships to promote alternative fuels and vehicles, fuel blends, fuel economy,
hybrid vehicles A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids. Hybrid powertrai ...
, and
idle reduction Idle reduction describes technologies and practices that minimize the amount of time drivers idle their engines. Avoiding idling time has a multitude of benefits including: savings in fuel and maintenance costs, extending vehicle life, and redu ...
.


Partnerships

The goal of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership was the development of emission- and petroleum-free cars and
light trucks Light truck or light-duty truck is a US classification for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight up to and a payload capacity up to . Similar goods vehicle classes in the European Union, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are termed light ...
. It focused on the high-risk research needed to develop the necessary technologies such as
fuel cells A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in req ...
and advanced hybrid propulsion systems to provide a full range of affordable cars and light trucks free of foreign oil and harmful emissions without sacrificing freedom of mobility and freedom of vehicle choice. To address the research and development needs of commercial vehicles, the goal of the partnership was for US trucks and buses to move safely and cost-effectively larger volumes of freight and greater numbers of passengers but emit little or no pollution, with a dramatic reduction in dependence on imported petroleum.


Plug-in hybrids

In 2007, the Department of Energy announced that it would invest nearly $20 million in research on
plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...
electric vehicles (PHEV). They have the potential to displace a large amount of gasoline by delivering up to 40 miles of electric range without recharging, a distance that includes most daily roundtrip commutes. Five projects would be cost-shared with the
United States Advanced Battery Consortium United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR) is an umbrella organization for collaborative research that comprises Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis. Its goal is to further strengthen the technology base of the U.S. au ...
(USABC) to allow up to $38 million for battery research and development. Five
lithium ion A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy d ...
battery companies were selected for the projects: * EnerDel, Inc. of
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, selected for an award of up to $1.25 million from DOE (total DOE/industry cost share: $2.5 million) over two years to develop cells for 10- and 40-mile range PHEVs using nanophase
lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...
titanate In chemistry, titanate usually refers to inorganic compounds composed of titanium oxides, or oxides containing the titanium element. Together with niobate, titanate salts form the Perovskite group. In some cases, the term is used more generally ...
coupled ''Coupled'' is an American dating game show that aired on Fox from May 17 to August 2, 2016. It was hosted by television personality, Terrence J and created by Mark Burnett, of '' Survivor'', '' The Apprentice'', '' Are You Smarter than a 5th ...
with a high voltage
Nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...
-
Manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...
cathode A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device such as a lead-acid battery. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. Conventional curren ...
material; *
A123Systems A123 Systems, LLC, a subsidiary of the Chinese Wanxiang Group Holdings, is a developer and manufacturer of lithium iron phosphate batteries and energy storage systems. The company was founded in 2001 by Yet-Ming Chiang, Bart Riley, and Ric Ful ...
of
Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...
;
Compact Power LG Chem Ltd. (Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the 9th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2021. It was first established ...
Inc. in Michigan, selected for an award of up to $6.25 million from DOE (total DOE/industry cost share: $12.5 million) over three years for a project to develop batteries based on nanophase iron-
phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...
chemistry for 10- and 40-mile range PHEVs; *
Compact Power LG Chem Ltd. (Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the 9th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2021. It was first established ...
Inc. of
Troy, Michigan Troy is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Troy is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 87,294, ...
, selected for an award of up to $4.45 million from DOE (total DOE/industry cost share: $12.7 million) over three years to develop batteries for 10-mile range PHEVs using high energy and high power Manganese-
spinel Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , a diminutive form of ''spine,'' in reference to its pointed crystals. Prop ...
; * 3M in
Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
, selected for an award of up to $1.14 million from DOE (total DOE/industry cost share: $ 2.28 million) over two years to screen nickel/manganese/cobalt (NMC) cathode materials through building and testing of small-sized cells; * and
Johnson Controls Johnson Controls International plc is an American, Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in arou ...
– Saft Advanced Power Solutions of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
, selected for an award of up to $4.1 million from DOE (total DOE/industry cost-share: $8.2 million) over two years to develop batteries using a nickelate/layered chemistry for 10- and 40-mile range PHEVs. The projects would focus on developing batteries and cells for 10- and 40-mile range PHEVs and building small cells to test new cathode materials. In addition, the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
would receive nearly $2 million to explore the future of PHEVs in a two-year study conducted with DOE's
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is one of the United States Department of Energy national laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science. The main campus of the laboratory is in Richland, Washington ...
(PNNL),
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
,
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
, and
DTE Energy DTE Energy (formerly Detroit Edison until 1996) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services in the United States and Canada. Its operating units include an ele ...
. The study would evaluate how PHEVs would share the power grid with other energy needs; monitor the American public's view of PHEVs and their driving behavior in such vehicles; assess the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and identify how automakers can optimize PHEV design to increase performance and reduce cost. See the DOE press release, the PNNL press release, and the Draft Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle R&D Plan on the FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program website. A number of other efforts also aimed to advance PHEV technologies. In early September, Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google Inc., offered $10 million to for-profit companies that are working to advance PHEV technologies. Meanwhile, California's
Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...
(PG&E) announced that it was working with
Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from hom ...
to study the remote control of the charging of electric vehicles. Such "smart charging" could allow a utility to vary the electric charging load on its system in response to intermittent energy sources. In effect, electric vehicles would serve as a large energy storage system that utilities could direct energy to at times when ample supplies are available and the load on the electrical grid is low. Also, DoE and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) signed a five-year agreement in September 2007 to support the large-scale deployment of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in both countries.


Criticisms

With the hydrogen-focused FCVT, whose goal is decades away, the
George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...
was criticized for ignoring any intermediate-term solutions, and of funding it largely with monies redirected from other renewable-energy and energy-efficiency programs. As Ashok Gupta, the lead energy economist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, put it, "The FreedomCAR is really about Bush's freedom to do nothing about cars today."


Reduction in 2010 funding

The Department of Energy's congressional budget request for 2010 budget cuts funding for fuel cell technologies by 60% to US$70 million. Secretary of Energy
Steven Chu Steven ChuSecretary Chu's DOE budget presentation
(PDF) slide 7, 2009-05-07, retrieved 2009-05-13


See also

* Air car * Corporate Average Fuel Economy * Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute *
Plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...
*
PHEV Research Center The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...
* German National Platform for Electric Mobility


References


External links


FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) Program
- USA
Department of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...
FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) Program website.
21st Century Truck Partnership

Clean Cities


FreedomCAR plug-ins




PNNL press Release



Draft Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) R&D Plan

Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedomcar And Vehicle Technologies Energy in the United States