The U.S. government has been raining grant money down upon the transportation industry this month – including some $2.4 billion for electric vehicles and the enabling technologies that will help to make them a reality. Remy International, Inc. was among the grant winners and will receive $60.2 million to establish a standardized platform of hybrid electric motors and controls.
According to Remy, the DOE grant awarded to the company and its co-applicant, Phoenix International (a John Deere company), will allow for critical capital and human resource investments to produce a full line of standard electric motors and power electronics. The investment is expected to create or protect nearly 1,000 highly skilled jobs in the United States for Remy, its partners, and its supply base. It is also intended to help establish a strong domestic manufacturing base for electric drive motor technology and accelerate the use of electric drive vehicles with higher fuel efficiency.
Uncle Sam did not forget the other side of the electric vehicle equation either. Funds also flowed out to support the creation of electric vehicle charging stations. The City of Seattle, WA, was among those benefiting. The area will gain 2,550 charging stations under a $100 million Energy Department grant through the Electric Transportation Engineering Corp., as will several other cities in the western U.S. A spokesman for the Seattle mayor's office, Alex Fryer, says about 1,000 charging stations will be in residences and 1,500 in a network for the metropolitan area.
