Alternatives to Conventional Internal Combustion :: Expository Essays Research Papers

Alternatives to Conventional Internal Combustion Congress created the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technologies (EHV) Program in 1992 for reasons of national defense. The specific purpose of the program was to solve the issues of performance, stealth, and fuel efficiency demanded by the military. The EHV program was managed by the Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as a side note DARPA developed the F-117 Stealth Fighter during the mid to late 1970’s and early 1980’s. DARPA and the Department of Defense created a consortium with 150 companies that were involved in 300 projects with a total investment of 250 million from 1993-1998 with half the funding provided by non-federal partners. They focused and developed on these areas of research â€Å"hybrid electric transmissions, auxiliary power units and motors, advanced battery and charger systems and controllers, flywheels to augment or replace batteries, and advanced materials to reduce vehicle weight (http://scitech. dot.gov/partners/nextsur/avp/avp.html)† The Advanced Vehicles Technologies Program represents the civilian version of the military EHV Program. EHV became AVP in 1999. The AVP budget was 50 million annually from 1999 to 2003. USCar, also began in 1992, it is a program made up by DaimlerChrsyler, Ford and General Motors â€Å"to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative, pre-competitive research (http://www.uscar.org/)† and from this project came a new program called FreedomCar, which is a joint venture with the USCar members and the Department of Energy. The ultimate goal of FreedomCar is to make hydrogen and fuel cell based transportation system. This is the long-term goal, which will take some time to be realized. The project is also looking at advanced internal combustion engines, emissions control for diesel engines, light weight materials, hybrid electric vehicle systems, advanced batteries and alternative fuels (http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/program_areas/freedomcar/index.shtml). The transportation sector obtains 95% of its fuel from petroleum and this sector accounts for 67% of American’s total petroleum use. The United States imports roughly 10 million barrels of oil per day (http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/program_areas/freedomcar/index.shtml). The dependence on imported oil could potentially threaten the energy security of the U.S. Roughly 55 percent of oil we consume is imported and this is expected to go up to 65 percent by 2025.