DOE to provide funding for ethanol vehicle efficiency research
July 20, 2007
BY Michael Shirek
Posted Aug. 8, 2007, at 3:49 p.m. CDT
The U.S. DOE announced Tuesday that it will award up to $21.5 million for research and development projects aimed to improve the fuel efficiency of light-duty vehicle engines. The 11 projects would be funded on a cost-share basis and will focus on three areas: optimization of ethanol-powered engines, development of advanced lubrication systems and exploring high-efficiency, clean combustion engines. The cost-share structure of the funding means a total of $43 million could be spent on the research and development projects.
Six of the 11 projects (accounting for $15.3 million of the DOE funding) are focused on improving flexible-fuel engines and light-duty vehicles that run on ethanol-gasoline blends such as E85. According to a DOE press release, projects selected for possible funding include:
Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, Troy, Mich.: Up to $2.2 million for a project to demonstrate a vehicle with an E85 optimized engine yielding up to 30 percent fuel efficiency improvement over current engines designed to run on either gasoline or E85. Wayne State University of Detroit, Mich., will partner with Delphi on the project.
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich.: Up to $3.2 million for a project to explore the knock-suppression properties of ethanol with increased compression ratios to allow the use of smaller, more fuel-efficient engines.
General Motors Corp., Pontiac, Mich.: Up to $1.9 million for a project to develop a cooled exhaust gas recirculation combustion prototype, allowing for smaller engines without loss of engine power. General Motors will partner with Ricardo Inc. on the project.
Robert Bosch LLC, Farmington Hills, Mich.: Up to $1.5 million for a project to implement an integrated hardware-software system improving E85 fuel economy to a standard similar to that of gasoline. Robert Bosch will partner with Ricardo and the University of Michigan on the project.
Siemens Government Services Inc., Reston, Va.: Up to $3 million for a project to investigate the potential of a turbocharged, direct-injection engine operating on E85 to improve combustion and fuel economy as well as lower exhaust emissions. Siemens will partner with AVL Engineering and Rousch Engineering on the project.
TIAX LLC, Cambridge, Mass.: Up to $1.2 million for a project to develop a novel, high-efficiency engine system for flexible-fuel vehicles that no only operates on any blend of ethanol up to E85, but is projected to exceed the efficiency of a conventional gasoline engine when operated with the highest blends of ethanol. TIAX will partner with Monsanto and John Deere on the project.
Visteon Corp., Van Buren Township, Mich.: Up to $2.3 million for a project to achieve gasoline-like fuel economy when using E85 by minimizing thermal, dynamic, volumetric and other system efficiency losses. Visteon will partner with DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, Mahle Powertrain and Michigan State University on the project.
The U.S. DOE announced Tuesday that it will award up to $21.5 million for research and development projects aimed to improve the fuel efficiency of light-duty vehicle engines. The 11 projects would be funded on a cost-share basis and will focus on three areas: optimization of ethanol-powered engines, development of advanced lubrication systems and exploring high-efficiency, clean combustion engines. The cost-share structure of the funding means a total of $43 million could be spent on the research and development projects.
Six of the 11 projects (accounting for $15.3 million of the DOE funding) are focused on improving flexible-fuel engines and light-duty vehicles that run on ethanol-gasoline blends such as E85. According to a DOE press release, projects selected for possible funding include:
Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, Troy, Mich.: Up to $2.2 million for a project to demonstrate a vehicle with an E85 optimized engine yielding up to 30 percent fuel efficiency improvement over current engines designed to run on either gasoline or E85. Wayne State University of Detroit, Mich., will partner with Delphi on the project.
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich.: Up to $3.2 million for a project to explore the knock-suppression properties of ethanol with increased compression ratios to allow the use of smaller, more fuel-efficient engines.
General Motors Corp., Pontiac, Mich.: Up to $1.9 million for a project to develop a cooled exhaust gas recirculation combustion prototype, allowing for smaller engines without loss of engine power. General Motors will partner with Ricardo Inc. on the project.
Robert Bosch LLC, Farmington Hills, Mich.: Up to $1.5 million for a project to implement an integrated hardware-software system improving E85 fuel economy to a standard similar to that of gasoline. Robert Bosch will partner with Ricardo and the University of Michigan on the project.
Siemens Government Services Inc., Reston, Va.: Up to $3 million for a project to investigate the potential of a turbocharged, direct-injection engine operating on E85 to improve combustion and fuel economy as well as lower exhaust emissions. Siemens will partner with AVL Engineering and Rousch Engineering on the project.
TIAX LLC, Cambridge, Mass.: Up to $1.2 million for a project to develop a novel, high-efficiency engine system for flexible-fuel vehicles that no only operates on any blend of ethanol up to E85, but is projected to exceed the efficiency of a conventional gasoline engine when operated with the highest blends of ethanol. TIAX will partner with Monsanto and John Deere on the project.
Visteon Corp., Van Buren Township, Mich.: Up to $2.3 million for a project to achieve gasoline-like fuel economy when using E85 by minimizing thermal, dynamic, volumetric and other system efficiency losses. Visteon will partner with DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, Mahle Powertrain and Michigan State University on the project.
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