Billion dollar battery

More than 40 advanced battery and electric-drive projects are to receive a total of $2.4bn (£1.4bn) in funding, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The 48 projects, selected by the US Department of Energy, represent the single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made.

US industry officials expect that the investment, coupled with a matching $2.4bn from the award winners, will result directly in the creation of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the US battery and auto industries.

Of the investment, $1.5bn has been awarded to US-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and expand their battery recycling capacity.

About $50m will be spent to allow manufacturers to produce electric-drive components for vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and other drive-train components.

A further $400m in grants will be used to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations in several dozen locations, deploy them and evaluate their performance, install electric-charging infrastructure and provide education and workforce training.