In January 2002, Secretary Abraham announced that FreedomCAR would take the place of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). PNGV's goal was to manufacture an affordable family car that gets 80 miles per gallon, with production of a prototype by 2004.
FreedomCAR is a government-industry program for the advancement of high-efficiency vehicles of all types, focusing on fuel cells and hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources. The C-A-R in FreedomCAR stands for Cooperative Automotive Research.
Freedom
- from petroleum dependence
- from pollutant emissions
- to choose the vehicle you want
- to drive where you want, when you want
- to obtain fuel affordably and conveniently
Program Structure
- Collaboration between US DOE and the U.S. Council
of Automotive Research (USCAR), a cooperative research
organization formed by Ford Motor Company, General Motors
Corporation, and DaimlerChrysler Corporation.
- Budget: $150.3 million
- Fuel Cells: $50 million
Approach
- Develop technologies to enable mass production of
affordable hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles and assure
the hydrogen infrastructure to support them.
- Continue support for hybrid technologies and advanced
materials that can dramatically reduce oil consumption
and environmental impacts in the nearer term.
- Develop technologies applicable across a wide range of passenger vehicles.