What would lead a company to walk away from negotiations for a coveted federal loan guarantee, as solar company Suniva did recently? As I learned while reporting this article for Earth2Tech, it has to do with the terms of the government deals, the time it takes to obtain one, and the recovery of private markets. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Department of Energy
Wanted: Fair Costs for Electric Car Home Charger Installations
As a new generation of plug-in vehicles rolls off the assembly line, a new cadre of consumers has entered the market for home charging equipment. Federal and state incentives are designed to help offset installation costs, which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. But some customers and electric vehicle advocates worry that the very programs meant to help lower costs for charger installations in practice have set the stage for price gouging. This post for PluginCars.com explains options for home charging equipment and the real cost of free chargers.
Is Magnesium the Key to Higher Fuel Economy?
U.S. Magnesium Superfund Site in Tooele County, Utah (credit: EPA)
Carbon fiber often occupies the limelight as a light weight material that could take some of the heft out of our cars, and thus improve fuel efficiency — if only it cost less. But alloys of magnesium, the lightest structural metal, have a history in automotive components tracing back to the 1930s. Now the U.S. government is hoping to jump-start innovative production of the material for use in cars. Continue reading
Tagged AOL Autos, Department of Energy, Fuel Economy, Magnesium, Materials
DOE Loan Chief on Solyndra, Tax Grants & 2011
Just about one year into his role heading up the Department of Energy’s loan program office, former venture capitalist Jonathan Silver believes the agency has come a long way from it’s first few years of neglect and delays.
For this piece published by GigaOM’s Earth2Tech, I sat down with Silver in San Francisco and got his take on Solyndra’s shuttered factory; a leaked memo from White House officials expressing concern about the DOE loan guarantee program; and the importance of the 1603 tax-grant program for big renewable energy projects (just extended), among other topics. He also offered some hints about what lies ahead for the green car loan program in 2011.
Light Is the Bright IDEA for Transport
Bright Automotive, which recently scored the first investment from General Motors’ new venture capital arm, aims to help steer commercial fleets toward more efficient options by decoupling size from efficiency. In other words, it lets customers have their cake (sip less fuel) and eat it too (carry more stuff). To accomplish this, Bright is developing a plug-in hybrid van called the IDEA with advanced materials that could shave thousands of pounds off the weight of conventional counterparts. I’ve written a profile of Bright for National Geographic News, covering the company’s accomplishments so far and challenges ahead as it pursues government funds on the road to commercialization.
After DOE Nod, a Long Road Ahead for Green Car Startups
At a time when dozens of vehicle and components makers are gunning for government funding, it might seem that a fat federal loan is the end-all-be-all of green car manufacturing. But as I’ve explained in this Earth2Tech post, when the Department of Energy makes a conditional loan commitment under its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, it represents just one of many milestones for companies racing to bring greener cars to the mass market.
