{{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} [[Image:FedEx Hybrid Sprinter.jpg|thumb|right|250px|President George W. Bush and Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman listen to [[DaimlerChrysler]]´s Mark Chernoby describes the [[FedEx]] Pilot Program [[Plug-in hybrid|Plug-in Hybrid]] [[Mercedes-Benz Sprinter|Sprinter]] during a visit to the [[US Postal Service]]]]
'''The FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT)''' was a national [[Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy]] program developing more [[efficient energy use|energy-efficient]] and [[green vehicle|environmentally-friendly highway transportation technologies]] to enable the [[United States]] 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]], lower costs, and reduce environmental impacts.
== Office == The office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) was in the [[US Department of Energy]].
== 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]], and [[idle reduction]].
== Partnerships== The goal of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership was the development of emission- and [[petroleum-free]] cars and [[light trucks]]. It focused on the high-risk research needed to develop the necessary technologies such as [[fuel cells]] 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]] 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 [[commuting|commutes]]. Five projects would be cost-shared with the [[United States Advanced Battery Consortium]] (USABC) to allow up to $38 million for battery research and development. Five [[lithium ion]] battery companies were selected for the projects:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/news/4926.htm |title=Department of Energy - DOE to Provide up to $14 Million to Develop Advanced Batteries for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=June 25, 2017 |archive-date=January 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106151951/http://www.energy.gov/news/4926.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[EnerDel]], Inc.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.doe.gov/news/5523.htm |title=Department of Energy - DOE to Provide Nearly $20 Million to Further Development of Advanced Batteries for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026065737/http://www.doe.gov/news/5523.htm |archive-date=2007-10-26 |url-status=dead}}</ref> of [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], 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 material|nanophase]] [[lithium]] [[titanate]] [[wikt:coupled|coupled]] with a high voltage [[Nickel]]-[[Manganese]] [[cathode]] material;<ref>[http://www.electricdrive.org/index.php?tg=entry&idx=more&article=1804&idg=1 EnerDel Receives Positive Results in Independent Tests on Company's Lithium-Ion Automotive Battery System]</ref> * [[A123Systems]] of [[Watertown, Massachusetts]]; [[Compact Power]] 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]] chemistry for 10- and 40-mile range PHEVs; * [[Compact Power]] Inc. of [[Troy, Michigan]], 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]]; * [[3M]] in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], 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]] – Saft Advanced Power Solutions of [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]], 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]] would receive nearly $2 million to explore the future of PHEVs in a two-year study conducted with DOE's [[Pacific Northwest National Laboratory]] (PNNL), [[General Motors]], [[Ford Motor Company]], and [[DTE Energy]]. 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]] (PG&E) announced that it was working with [[Tesla Motors]] to study the remote control of the charging of electric vehicles. Such "smart charging" could allow a utility to vary the electric [[load profile|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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/news/5518.htm |title=Department of Energy - U.S. and China Continue to Increase Cooperation on Vehicle Efficiency<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=June 25, 2017 |archive-date=December 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091210212007/http://www.energy.gov/news/5518.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Criticisms == With the hydrogen-focused FCVT, whose goal is decades away, the [[George W. Bush administration]] was criticized for ignoring any intermediate-term solutions, and of funding it largely with monies redirected from other renewable-energy and energy-efficiency programs.<ref>[http://www.grist.org/news/powers/2003/02/26/tough/ What can we learn from Bush’s FreedomCar Plan?] by Amanda Griscom Little at [http://www.grist.org Grist.org], 2003-02-26, retrieved 2009-05-13</ref> 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."<ref>''ibid''</ref>
== 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.<ref>[http://www.cfo.doe.gov/budget/10budget/Content/Highlights/FY2010Highlights.pdf DOE Budget highlights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514064907/http://www.cfo.doe.gov/budget/10budget/Content/Highlights/FY2010Highlights.pdf |date=May 14, 2009 }} (PDF), May 2009, retrieved 2009-05-13</ref> Secretary of Energy [[Steven Chu]]'s presentation portrays this as "moving away from funding vehicular hydrogen fuel cells to technologies with more immediate promise."<ref>[https://www.energy.gov/media/Secretary_Chu_2010_Budget_rollout_presentation.pdf Secretary Chu's DOE budget presentation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090520212236/http://www.energy.gov/media/Secretary_Chu_2010_Budget_rollout_presentation.pdf |date=May 20, 2009 }} (PDF) slide 7, 2009-05-07, retrieved 2009-05-13</ref>
== See also == * [[Air car]] * [[Corporate Average Fuel Economy]] * [[Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute]] * [[Plug-in hybrid]] * [[PHEV Research Center]] * [[Nationale Plattform Elektromobilität|German National Platform for Electric Mobility]]
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/ FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) Program ] - USA [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) Program website. * [http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/about/partnerships/21centurytruck/index.html 21st Century Truck Partnership] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070427062313/http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/ Clean Cities].
=== FreedomCAR plug-ins === * [https://www.energy.gov/news/5523.htm DOE press release] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718122739/http://www.energy.gov/news/5523.htm |date=2009-07-18 }} * [http://www.pnl.gov/news/release.asp?id=272 PNNL press Release]. * [http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/features/phev_plan.html EERE PHEV] **[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/program/phev_rd_plan_june_2007.pdf Draft Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) R&D Plan]. * [http://www.mmpei.umich.edu Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute].
{{Energy in the USA}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedomcar And Vehicle Technologies}} [[Category:Energy in the United States]]