Steven Chu

As a Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary who pushed hard for plug-in vehicles, it seems only natural that Dr. Steven Chu would eventually hook up with a technology company in that sector once he left his government position. Well, now he has. Battery maker Amprius has announced

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has kicked off H2USA, a public-private partnership focused on advancing hydrogen infrastructure to bring more transportation energy options to US consumers, including fueling up their fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). This is important for FCEVs because, right now, there are only 55 of these fueling stations in the US.

This could be big. The US Department of Energy has announced a five-year, $120-million award for a team of 14 companies, universities and national laboratories led by Argonne National Laboratory that will be charged with creating next-generation batteries for use in vehicles and the grid. In short, a sort of "Manhattan Project" for advanced EV packs.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan might have supported full disbursement of the U.S. Energy Department's planned $529 million loan to extended-range plug-in vehicle maker Fisker Automotive. Then again, he might not have. Ah, politics.

What Changed DOE Secretary Steven Chu's Mind About Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Um, about that $337 million.

Looks like President Obama's stance on yet another issue is "evolving."

This is one political flip-flop scenario that could actually please some constituents.

Even though we're in the early phase of modern electric cars and sales haven't been as high as some expected, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu continues to promote electric vehicles as a way for the American economy to cut its dependence on increasingly expensive foreign oil, MarketWatch reports. Chu made the remarks at the New York Times Energy for Tomorrow Conference last week.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will invest as much as $10 million in the development of battery-electric trucks, forklifts and other cargo vehicles in a further attempt to cut petroleum use by the domestic transportation industry.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the federal government will continue to emphasize finding alternative forms of transportation energy sources over merely trying to find ways to cut gas prices, Politico is reporting, citing Chu's comments at a Washington, D.C., House appropriations hearing earlier this week.

Bright Automotive will shut down after the maker of the extended-range plug-in utility vehicles said the federal government took too long to make good on its planned loans to the Michigan-based company, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing a letter company executive sent to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu yesterday.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu estimates that plug-in vehicle battery costs will have dropped 70 percent between 2008 and 2015 and will fall another 58 percent between 2015 and 2020, giving hope to electric-drive vehicle advocates that the price premium for plug-ins relative to conventional vehicles will narrow during the next few years. Chu also said that the U.S. Energy Department is opening a research center dedicated to improve battery and energy-storage technologies for the transportation

On Thursday, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that the U.S., along with its partners in the International Energy Agency, has decided to release a total of 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves within the next 30 days. This move is to offset the disruption in oil supply

Last week, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the formation of U.S. DRIVE, a cooperative partnership with industry to accelerate the development of clean, energy-efficient technologies for vehicles. Formerly known as the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, U.S. DRIVE – Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability – brings together the DOE's technical experts with nati

Last Friday, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa celebrated the installation of Coulomb Technologies' 500th plug-in vehicle charging station. That's interesting in and of itself, but it was something Chu said that captured our attention. First, Chu opened with this obligatory statement:

Last Friday, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that to date, more than 1,800 plug-in vehicle charging stations have been installed under the Recovery Act's $400-million Transportation Electrification Initiative. Eric Loveday

U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and 12 others have called upon Energy Secretary Steven Chu to reinstate the Department of Energy's (DOE) 2010 level of funding for fuel cell and hydrogen energy programs. Brown asserts that, "Fuel cell and hydrogen technologies are on the cusp of revolutionizing the way we use energy" and, as such, believes that governments (both state and federal) should "allocate all possible resources" to "encourage ... manufacturers, private sector in

Under its SunShot Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it will hand out up to $112.5 million over the next five years to fund the development of advanced solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing processes throughout the U.S. The Department says that its SunShot Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships will assist the solar power industry in overcoming technical barriers and reducing costs for PV installations. This, the DOE hopes, should help the U.S. regain its position as a worldwi