USCAR members Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler have signed cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) worth up to $195 million over the next five years for continued research and development in the areas of lightweight materials and advanced battery technologies for vehicles.

Most of the DOE funding will be passed through the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) and U.S. Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP), both consortia of the USCAR, the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR). Over the past 10 years the DOE/USCAR partnership has helped develop the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery technology used in light-duty hybrid electric vehicles. USABC is pursuing the development of advanced lithium ion systems for electric, hybrid-electric and fuel cell vehicles.