DETROIT – The federal government anted up $350 million this week to back a variety of research projects aimed at creating a world in which cars and trucks are powered by hydrogen.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced the grants.

Private investment will put another $225 million into research over the next five years, bringing the total amount announced by Abraham to $575 million.

Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG both used the event to announce new initiatives to put at least 67 fuel-cell cars on U.S. roads by the end of the year. DaimlerChrysler said it wants to add 37 fuel-cell cars to U.S. fleets as soon as this summer. Ford, during a news conference in Taylor, Mich., said it plans to build up to 30 fuel-cell cars late this year. Ford’s vehicles would be distributed in Detroit, Sacramento, Calif., and Orlando, Fla. Out of those, Ford plans to split 10 cars between the city of Taylor and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

BP plans to construct 30 hydrogen fuel stations in the same areas. Shell Oil, meanwhile, expects to complete its first hydrogen fuel station in Washington, D.C., by the end of the summer.

Shell is working with General Motors Corp. on the project. GM is already supplying a fleet of hydrogen-powered cars used for test drives by members of Congress.

The 130 research projects that received funding this past week – which will be conducted at different sites across the country and include some of the biggest names in the automotive and energy industries – will focus on producing hydrogen, storing it on vehicles and increasing consumer awareness.

Five research teams will receive $190 million in government funds over five years to test fuel-cell vehicles in real-world conditions; another $190 million will come from private funds.

The teams will be led by GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Texaco Energy Systems LLC and Air Products and Chemicals Inc., based in Allentown, Pa.

The Department of Energy also will distribute $150 million over five years for hydrogen storage research and $13 million over three years for fuel-cell research.

Delphi will receive $3 million to develop fuel-cell auxiliary power units for long-haul trucks.

The units would allow a driver to operate the air conditioning, radio and computer without running the engine, which is a common practice today.

The Department of Energy estimates that more than 840 million gallons of diesel fuel are burned annually by idling long-haul trucks.

“It’s a very comprehensive program that has brought together for the first time the major energy and the major automotive companies of the world to work on this extremely important challenge,” Abraham said in his announcement at Wayne State University’s TechTown, a technology park that opened its first building last week.

The federal funds represent nearly one-third of $1.2 billion that President Bush pledged for hydrogen research during his 2002 State of the Union address.

During the address, Bush said he wants to use hydrogen fuel to reverse America’s growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses with no pollution or greenhouse gases.

—

(c) 2004, Detroit Free Press.

Visit the Freep, the World Wide Web site of the Detroit Free Press, at http://www.freep.com.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-04-27-04 2022EDT