Amendment 000003 to DE-FOA-0000793. To view the changes associated with amendment, please refer to the FOA document below.
The mission of the Vehicle Technology Program (VTP) is to develop more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for highway transportation vehicles (cars and trucks) that will meet or exceed performance expectations and environmental requirements, and enable America to use significantly less petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The VTP focuses on highway vehicles, which account for 55 percent of total U.S. oil use ─ more than all U.S. domestic oil production. Cost-competitive, more energy-efficient and fuel diverse vehicles will enable individuals and businesses to accomplish their daily tasks while reducing consumption of gasoline and diesel fuels. This will reduce U.S. demand for petroleum, lower carbon emissions, and decrease energy expenditures.
The VTP funds the advanced technology Research & Development (R&D) needed to achieve these goals. In the near to mid-term, transportation energy use can be reduced through improved vehicle energy efficiency from more efficient advanced combustion engines, Hybrid-Electric Vehicle (HEV), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), and Electric Vehicle (EV) powertrains, and through reduced vehicle weight and ancillary load requirements.
This FOA supports the President’s EV Everywhere Grand Challenge with the goal of enabling U.S. companies to be the first in the world to produce electric vehicles that are as affordable for the average American family as today’s gas-powered vehicles within the next 10 years (by 2022).
Electric drive vehicles such as HEVs, PHEVs, and EVs have been identified as one important way to address the challenges of the nation’s dependence on imported oil and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. VTP’s specific goals in this area include enabling the use of advanced electric drive technologies in vehicles by developing low-cost batteries, advanced power electronics and electric motors, along with the development and validation of models and simulation tools to predict the performance of advanced conventional and electric-drive vehicle systems.
Advanced materials are essential for reducing vehicle weight to boost the fuel economy of modern automobiles, while maintaining safety and performance. Replacing cast iron and traditional steel components with lightweight materials such as high-strength steel, magnesium, aluminum, and polymer composites allows vehicles to carry advanced emissions-control equipment, safety devices, and integrated electronic systems, without an associated weight penalty. Using lighter materials also reduces a vehicle’s fuel consumption, because it takes less energy to accelerate a lighter object. For example, a 10% reduction in vehicle weight can yield a 6%–8% fuel-economy improvement.
Increasing the electric operating range of electric-drive vehicles is one of the keys to achieving mass market adoption in the U.S. High efficiency occupant heating and cooling systems have the potential to significantly increase vehicle electric driving range while providing superior occupant comfort. Because of the higher efficiency of electric-drive vehicles, auxiliary loads such as passenger cabin heating, cooling, and window defrosting/defogging have a more significant impact on efficiency than in vehicles using internal combustion engines as their primary source of power. Improving heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems is an essential component in the development of widely-accepted electric-drive vehicles.
As reflected in the FOA document, this FOA contains a total of 12 areas of interest in the general areas of advanced lightweighting and propulsion materials; advanced battery development; power electronics; advanced heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems; and fuels and lubricants.