Sen. McCain proposes $300m prize for a better battery
Petroleum prices are making electric vehicles and engines which run on biofuels look more and more attractive with each passing day. That's why its likely to be a hot topic this election season as each presidential candidate sets out his own unique proposals to ease the country into a new era of lower fuel consumption. Biofuels may be the quickest path to lower petroleum usage, but it's electric vehicles which present the biggest step forward in clean auto technology looking forward. Both biofuels and battery technology are getting some love from Senator John McCain, who's set to propose a prize of $300 million for the first company who can build a better battery. That's a large sum of money, but it won't be easy to tap considering that the goal is for a battery with "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars." Oh yeah, and do all that with a seventy-percent reduction in cost. That shouldn't be a problem, right?
[Source: The Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Todd 2:11PM (6/23/2008)
Big Oil will just off McCain $301 million to sell them the patent to the winning technology, or just tell him to shut up or risk losing their $10,000,000.00 campaign donation to the RNC.
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Yar 2:14PM (6/23/2008)
Then, with their Death Star complete, Big Oil will hold the world ransom for all its precious resources! Next stop Dagobah!
Flashpoint 2:21PM (6/23/2008)
Mccain will say anything to win the election. Then we'll be at war with Iran for the next 8 years and gas will be so expensive, no one will even be thinking about electric batteries. The oil companies will be f*ckin us all so I hope everyone has their K*Y jelly ready.
Vetmstr 2:26PM (6/23/2008)
Do you honestly think they will use KY or any lube win they F^*k us!!!!!
tuna 2:52PM (6/23/2008)
@ vetmstr
Yes they will. It's a petroleum by-product. We pay and pay for them to screw us. It's a win-win for them.
tankd0g 3:38PM (6/23/2008)
Those who control the oil will become those who control the electricity. We might enjoy a small period where running your electric car will be cheaper than gas was but it won't last once enough people are driving them that the nation can be held over a barrel by a select few once again.
Brandon 4:30PM (6/23/2008)
@tankd0g
We can make our own generators (wind, solar) while we can't liquify old plants to make oil. That's a big difference.
Flashpoint 4:42PM (6/23/2008)
First you produce failing public school systems.
Then they produce failing students.
Those failing students have children out of wedlock before they are even 18 and vreate a future of dumb assed Americans.
Then and only then do you have a population dumb enough to allow oil men to run their country...wage wars to control oil countries and then actually pay $4.50 a gallon of gas while the oil executives running the country use their tax dollars to ride around in bulletproof GAS GUZZLING SUVS.
Then you get a guy like Kucinich who tries to impeach the executives and no one even cares.
3 people you should listen too...
Ron Paul
Kucinich
Jeremiah Wright.
These guys actually know what's wrong with America.
F*** john mcinsane.
jg 6:38PM (6/23/2008)
'First you produce failing public school systems.
Then they produce failing students.
Those failing students have children out of wedlock before they are even 18 and vreate a future of dumb assed Americans.
Then and only then do you have a population dumb enough to allow oil men to run their country...wage wars to control oil countries and then actually pay $4.50 a gallon of gas while the oil executives running the country use their tax dollars to ride around in bulletproof GAS GUZZLING SUVS.
'
And then blog commenters paraphrase every movie George C Romero ever made. :)
Andrei 2:13PM (6/23/2008)
hah, good luck.
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TheOne442 2:13PM (6/23/2008)
I honestly believe that we could see this done in the next 4yrs. It may not be on the market in that time but it is most definitely possible.
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Matt 6:33PM (6/23/2008)
I think more like 2 years. Mercedes Benz electric car is coming in 2010
http://benzinsider.com/2008/06/dieter-zetsche-confirms-electric-mercedes-in-2010-we-were-right/
Milos 2:20PM (6/23/2008)
Ok proposition, but i think this money could be better used as a stimulation for researches like the one we could read about last week - oil creating bacteria. Creation of energy is much bigger problem than storing it and the biofuel is not a long-term answer cause of it's link to raising food prices
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TheOne442 2:38PM (6/23/2008)
Good point Milos
cheezwiz 2:38PM (6/23/2008)
Batteries have far reaching use besides just cars that could allow for alternative energy. For instance, solar is only viable when it's sunny, wind only when it's windy, hydro power when there's a release of excess damned water, etc. All of these problems could be solved if there was a viable storage medium. This could be bigger than just hybrids.
Milos 2:51PM (6/23/2008)
"For instance, solar is only viable when it's sunny, wind only when it's windy, hydro power when there's a release of excess damned water, etc. All of these problems could be solved if there was a viable storage medium."
I'm not sure i can agree with you, cause not even the god-given batteries couldn't make solar powerplants generate energy when it's cloudy, or help windmills when there's no wind. Or help to meet the production demands. We, not just America (I'm from europe btw), as we all know already, need new, stable sources of energy which won't require sacrifice of food sources like corn-based ethanol production or be too dependent on the atmosphere conditions like the solar plants which also, with present solar-cell tech, require large land surface for big enough output
DKB_SATX 3:18PM (6/23/2008)
Cheezwiz' point is valid. An efficient storage medium would allow more widespread use of wind and solar power because it allows you to generate at maximum capacity whenever your energy source is available, even if the grid doesn't need that much power. You can release that stored energy when your energy source isn't available at all or doesn't let you run to capacity.
RG 2:19PM (6/23/2008)
I think it is a smart move, because it is something where, if successful, there could be a HUGE payoff- both from the consumer and the government.
Before, you have had prizes like $10 million to get a 100-mpg car or $50 million for the first commercial space flight, which are a pittance when you consider the costs involved in the development of technologies to achieve the goals. This payout of $300 million is very substantial because it presents a legitimate incentive for companies to consider this technology.
I mean be honest, if you are in the car business, what would you focus on, getting a car to 100-mpg and getting $10mil, or working on a battery that will get you 30 times as much money. I'm no rocket scientist, but I know what I would start focusing on.
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Red 2:53PM (6/23/2008)
Uh....not exactly.
I'm in the car business and I can tell you this is bullsh*t. $300 million is barely enough to cover start-up costs for R&D on a project of this magnitude. Even if it somehow were magically enough, how much do the cars you're going to put these in have to cost to re-coup what you spent, how many cars do you have to sell at said price and how long are you going to have to sell them? Have you added in labor and other associated costs as well? It's not a hand-out. It's an "if-then" situation. So you're going into debt without the guarantee that McCain'll bail you out on the other end and if you aren't the person who gets the $300 mil, you're screwed. On the flipside, let's say you do happen to be THAT person who comes up with this technology. Your tech is going to have a FAR higher market value than $300mil. Last I checked, $300 mil is still less than the potential billions you could reap by patenting the tech and letting others use it for a nominal fee (way less you're talking about the current US dollar *roll eyes*). Don't forget, this isn't just cars. This is a battery technology that could revolutionize everything from pace makers to vibrators. Everybody's going to want it eventually. Aside from the obvious monopoly and the potential to pay off the US' entire debt (okay, now I'm rambling, lol) what's in it for the rest of the poor schmucks who didn't get this supposed $300 mil? McCain obviously doesn't have it. Where's he going to get it from? Like I said, unless you're actually the person who comes up with the technology (more than likely you'll be an employee of one of the asian firms already dilligently working on this because you'll have a head-start on everybody and most of the R&D funded by your bosses' bosses' bosses' bosses' investors), the rest of us are hypothetically out of the loop in this one.
Of course, this is just one theory. I'm sure somebody else has a different, more positive idea. lol Either way, it's just another ploy by a candidate willing to do and saying anything to get your vote.
RG 3:50PM (6/23/2008)
You think it is BS that $300 million is a larger incentive than $10 and $50 million? Ok, to each their own...
If you re-read my comment, nowhere does it say $300mil will completely cover the cost of development. I am fully aware of the costs associated with the development of such a technology and knows that such a price cover a fraction of the costs.
My point was that you will get a lot more interest with a "prize" of $300 million than you would with prizes of $10 million and $50 million.