The FreedomCAR Partnership

摘要

One striking feature of the United States of America's (USA's) transportation system is its nearly complete dependence on petroleum as an energy source. Petroleum is used to satisfy 95 percent of USA's transportation energy needs, consuming two-thirds of all the petroleum used in the USA. As roughly 55 percent of the petroleum is imported, the implications of this dependency on energy security are readily apparent. Therefore, the USA's Department of Energy (DOE) and the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) announced in January 2002 a new cooperative effort known as the FreedomCAR Partnership to fund high-risk, high-payoff research and development (R&D) into advanced automotive technologies with the potential for dramatically lowering this dependence. The new partnership replaces and builds upon the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) initiative that ran from late 1993 through 2001. The long-term transition of vehicles from gasoline to hydrogen is viewed as critical in lowering the dependence of the USA economy on foreign oil, and in reducing the environmental impact of the personal transportation sector, In addition to the longer-term work on fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure, the FreedomCAR Partnership conducts research on technologies with the potential for shorter-term energy-efficiency and environmental benefits, such as new engine concepts, lightweight materials, and hybrid propulsion components. The current goals of FreedomCAR are: Develop reliable systems for future fuel-cell powertrains with costs and performance comparable to conventional internal-combustion engine/automatic transmission systems. 1. Enable clean, energy-efficient vehicles operating on clean, hydrocarbon-based fuels powered by either internal-combustion powertrains or fuel cells. 2. Enable reliable hybrid-electric vehicles that are durable and affordable. 3. Enable the transition to a hydrogen economy, ensure widespread availability of hydrogen fuels while retaining the functional characteristics of current vehicles. 4. Develop material manufacturing technologies for lightweight, high-volume production vehicles. The long-term results of this cooperative effort will be cars and trucks that are more efficient to operate, pollution-free and cost-competitive.