Monday, January 11, 2010

DOE Boost Daimler's Portland Ops With $39.6M

The Department of Energy has announced $187 million in grants targeted at improving fuel energy efficiency for heavy-duty trucks and passenger vehicles, selecting Daimler's Portland operations for part of that funding. According to the DOE, it has given Daimler Trucks North America, with operations in Portland, $39,559,868 in funding to develop and demonstrate technologies including engine downsizing, electrification of auxiliary systems such as oil and water pumps, waste heat recovery, improved aerodynamics and hybridization, as part of a grant to nine different projects nationwide focused on auto energy efficiency. The grant was the only one awarded outside the Midwest; the other winners were based in various loations in Michigan and Indiana.