Energy Dept. cash aims to boost efficient cars and trucks

As the big Detroit auto show – where automakers are touting an array of electric and hybrid cars – got underway, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was a few miles south in Columbus, Ohio Monday doling out money to spur the next wave of innovations.

But amid the interest in electrifying the transportation sector, the DoE cash includes funding for projects to make gasoline and diesel engines more efficient too.

Chu announced that $187 million – including over $100 million from the 2009 stimulus law – would be split between nine projects to boost the efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and passenger cars.

According to DoE, the projects are aimed at developing technologies that, if adopted widely, could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles by 20 percent by 2030.

The biggest share of the money -- $115 million – will go toward long-haul trucking technologies aimed at boosting efficiency by 50 percent, focusing on “improved aerodynamics, reducing engine idling technologies, waste heat recovery to increase engine efficiency, advanced combustion techniques, and powertrain hybridization.”

The passenger vehicle funding -- $71 million – focuses on gasoline and diesel engine systems.

Here’s the whole list of projects from DoE:

Systems Level Technology Development, Integration, and Demonstration for Efficient Class 8 Trucks (SuperTrucks)
 
·         Cummins Inc. - $38,831,115 – Columbus, Indiana – Develop and demonstrate a highly efficient and clean diesel engine, an advanced waste heat recovery system, an aerodynamic Peterbilt tractor and trailer combination, and a fuel cell auxiliary power unit to reduce engine idling.
 
·         Daimler Trucks North America, LLC - $39,559,868 – Portland, Oregon – Develop and demonstrate technologies including engine downsizing, electrification of auxiliary systems such as oil and water pumps, waste heat recovery, improved aerodynamics and hybridization.
 
·         Navistar, Inc. - $37,328,933 – Fort Wayne, Indiana – Develop and demonstrate technologies to improve truck and trailer aerodynamics, combustion efficiency, waste heat recovery, hybridization, idle reduction, and reduced rolling resistance tires.
 
Advanced Technology Powertrains for Light-Duty Vehicles (ATP-LD)
 
·         Chrysler Group LLC - $14,458,572 - Auburn Hills, Michigan – Develop a flexible combustion system for their minivan platform based on a downsized, turbocharged engine that uses direct gasoline injection, recirculation of exhaust gases, and flexible intake air control to reduce emissions.
 
·         Cummins Inc. - $15,000,000 - Columbus, Indiana - Develop a fuel-efficient, low emissions diesel engine that achieves a 40 percent fuel economy improvement over conventional gasoline technology and significantly exceeds 2010 EPA emissions requirements.
 
·         Delphi Automotive Systems LLC - $7,480,572 – Troy, Michigan – Develop a novel low-temperature combustion system, coupled with technologies such as continuously variable valve control and engine downspeeding, to improve fuel economy by at least 25 percent. 
 
·         Ford Motor Company - $15,000,000 - Dearborn, Michigan – Achieve a 25 percent fuel economy improvement with a gasoline engine in a 2010 mid- to large-size sedan using technologies including engine downsizing, turbo-charging, direct injection, and a novel exhaust aftertreatment system. 
 
·         General Motors Co. - $7,705,862 - Pontiac, Michigan – Develop an engine that uses lean combustion and active heat management, as well as a novel emissions control system, to improve the fuel economy of a 2010 Malibu demonstration vehicle by 25 percent.
 
·         Robert Bosch - $11,953,786 - Farmington Hills, Michigan – Demonstrate a high compression, turbo-charged engine based on homogenous charge compression ignition technology (a combustion technology that allows for lower emissions and higher efficiency)  to achieve up to 30 percent fuel economy improvement in a gasoline-fueled light-duty vehicle.