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McCain proposes $300 million prize for battery tech

McCain proposes $300 million prize for battery tech

Viknesh Vijayenthiran June 23rd, 2008 Viknesh Vijayenthiran By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Author June 23rd, 2008
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December 31st, 1969 Republican presidential candidate John McCain has intensified his efforts to fight global warming by proposing a $300 million government prize to the first person or corporation to develop vehicle battery technology superior to anything currently available. Speaking at Fresno State University in California today, McCain said that such a bounty would be a small price to pay for technology that could significantly reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. His latest remarks follow previous promises to increase funding for alternative fuel vehicles and power generation as well as introduce a market-based cap on greenhouse gas emissions should he win the upcoming election. Some of his initiatives include tougher fines for carmakers that fail to meet current fuel-efficiency standards, as well as incentives to increase the use of ethanol. As for the battery prize, McCain envisages the winning technology as having the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the batteries found in current hybrid and all-electric vehicles. In addition to the battery prize, McCain has also proposed a new ‘Clean Car Challenge’ that would provide U.S. carmakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-emissions vehicle they develop and sell, reports The Detroit News. With fuel prices in the U.S. reaching record levels of more than $4 a gallon, McCain has also suggested that for immediate term effects he would lift a federal ban on offshore oil drilling if individual states want to allow it. His Democratic rival, Barack Obama, has already opposed the idea, claiming it would do nothing to address immediate price concerns.
McCain proposes $300 million prize for battery tech

McCain proposes $300 million prize for battery tech

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Republican presidential candidate John McCain has intensified his efforts to fight global warming by proposing a $300 million government prize to the first person or corporation to develop vehicle battery technology superior to anything currently available. Speaking at Fresno State University in California today, McCain said that such a bounty would be a small price to pay for technology that could significantly reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

His latest remarks follow previous promises to increase funding for alternative fuel vehicles and power generation as well as introduce a market-based cap on greenhouse gas emissions should he win the upcoming election. Some of his initiatives include tougher fines for carmakers that fail to meet current fuel-efficiency standards, as well as incentives to increase the use of ethanol.

As for the battery prize, McCain envisages the winning technology as having the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the batteries found in current hybrid and all-electric vehicles. In addition to the battery prize, McCain has also proposed a new ‘Clean Car Challenge’ that would provide U.S. carmakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-emissions vehicle they develop and sell, reports The Detroit News.

With fuel prices in the U.S. reaching record levels of more than $4 a gallon, McCain has also suggested that for immediate term effects he would lift a federal ban on offshore oil drilling if individual states want to allow it. His Democratic rival, Barack Obama, has already opposed the idea, claiming it would do nothing to address immediate price concerns.

Tags: Industry

Posted in: News, Hybrid


Comments (9 total)

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  1. By chris #1, Posted: 6/23/2008

    I just read about this. brilliant. a republican who is appealing to hippies.

    THIS is the kind of crap I've been talking about. don't limp in with 30 million for the industry... like USDOT... 300 million. a dollar for every man, woman and child in the USA. for ONE COMPANY... to come up with something. SOMETHING.

    and then 5 grand in cash for every ZEV? THAT will offset that Volt development cost problem. problem is that the volt isn't purely electric... but it COULD be. very easily.

    I don't know who I'd vote for, but this guy just got a whole lot more likable. He doesn't fire it at the american companies, nor the imports... its a competition and he's got a prise. now fight.

  2. By Gus #2, Posted: 6/23/2008

    Yeah, and all Barak can suggest is we all ride a bike.

    Moron.

  3. By Roy #3, Posted: 6/23/2008

    That's funny - I had the opposite view of this announcement: it's a poorly thought-out U-turn from his clamouring the previous day to drill for more oil. The oil companies already have a huge backlog of places to drill and the price of oil isn't going down anytime soon because of the time it takes between discovery and harvest. Oh! The jig is up! To appease the people, McCain has proposed battery development. That's actually a damn good idea with two problems:
    1, Where's he going to get a third of a billion dollars? To put that in perspective, that's 1% of the entire NIH budget. It's a non-trivial sum.
    2, What are the metrics that decide when the money is awarded? I saw something about current levels of performance at 30% of the cost. Huh? Cost is not the real problem right now. Energy density is. Whoops.
    So, this policy seems to be a poorly-thought out U-turn. I really liked McCain, but I think he needs to improve his advisor pool because, frankly, they appear to have too much in common with the fools that got us into this mess in the first place.

  4. By HECTOR #4, Posted: 6/23/2008

    You know that line from AvP *whoever wins, we lose*? I believe the writer was thinking of a situation like this.

  5. By Ultra #5, Posted: 6/23/2008

    F#$#$ Mcain and VOTE DEMOCRAT OR DIE! . if you vote republican you are whats wrong with america.

    there shouldnt even be a republican party . whos idea was that?

  6. By Gus #6, Posted: 6/23/2008

    See Ultra's comment in the loud tire article.

    Like I said there, too many years listening to (or smelling) loud tires...

  7. By Bender #7, Posted: 6/24/2008

    McCain is all about cheap one time "solutions" that could do the trick for average non-thinking American.
    God, as European I truly hope Americans are not so stupid after the last 8 years. :/

  8. By Gus #8, Posted: 6/24/2008

    You're right, Bender, we should all be smart like you and pay $10 a gallon for gasoline.

  9. By chris #9, Posted: 6/24/2008

    ultra; if you think theres a difference between your republican and democratic nominees, you should study world politics. and then move some where else.

    Bender; this is the kind of thing that the american people want. he's going to get a lot of votes if he really develops this plan... might get some people to vote republican who normally wouldnt.

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