| FuelCellStocks.Com Fuel Cell News July 15, 2005 US steps up investment for battery driven vehicles
The investment of $125 million is apart from the $70 million agreement initially signed in May, thus bringing "the total joint investments in vehicle technologies to a potential $195 million over the next five years", the official release said. Under the new agreement reached by US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman with leaders of the US Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) it has been decided "to provide $125 million over five years to develop high-performance batteries for electric, hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles". "Using such new technologies will reduce the demand for petroleum fuel as the vehicles are introduced into the nation's transportation system, thereby significantly reducing the need for foreign sources of oil," the DOE stated. Expressing the Bush administration's support for new energy technologies, Bodman said, "Industry, government and academic partnerships like the ones announced today are key to securing our nation's energy future." He was speaking during an appearance in the Midwest state of Michigan, the traditional centre of the US automotive industry. While the earlier $70 million agreement in May was for the development of lightweight materials that increase fuel efficiency by reducing vehicle weight, the new $125 million agreement will see the government and the industry share costs to develop high-performance battery driven vehicles. These efforts would complement a variety of other international initiatives the Bush administration has launched to reduce reliance on fossils fuels and develop alternative energy sources. These include the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy, involving 15 nations, and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, involving 20 nations. India is collaborating the US in some of these projects.
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