The DOE will investment about $3.7 million in Delphi, $2.7 million in GM and $10.5 million between two separate projects Ford is collaborating on with Dow Chemical Co. and the University of Utah.
View full sizeIn this combo made with file photos, logos for General Motors and Ford are shown.WASHINGTON- The U.S. Department of Energy will invest millions into projects for General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, according to officials.
The DOE will investment about $3.7 million in Delphi, $2.7 million in GM and $10.5 million between two separate projects Ford is collaborating on with Dow Chemical Co. and the University of Utah.
“In Michigan, projects led by Dow Chemical, General Motors and Ford -- some of the country’s leading private-sector innovators -- will advance transformational technologies that can help revolutionize our manufacturing processes” said U.S. DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson during a media call Monday afternoon.
The automotive-related projects are part of a $54.3 million DOE investment in 13 projects nationwide that are designed to save money by reducing energy to power the facilities and help bring the projects to market, he said.
While the companies most likely could fund the projects themselves, Danielson said, the chosen projects are ones that the government sees as good investments.
“We’re only funding things that are out on the edge of their roadmaps,” he said. “Where given the constraints of quarter-to-quarter profitability, they’re not able to invest as much as they need to be to be truly global competitive.”
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the funding should help the companies continue to help Michigan’s advanced manufacturing turnaround.
View full sizeDebbie Stabenow“If we’re going to have the State of Michigan continue to grow more rapidly again, we’ve got to transform our economy,” she said during the call. “We have to see more advanced manufacturing products and processes in Michigan and this is a very, very important part of that."
The projects from Ford, GM and Delphi are:
- The University of Utah in Salt Lake City with Ford, Army Research Laboratory and Reading Alloys/Ametek will receive $1.46 million to develop a new process for producing titanium components that could reduce the materials needed by ten-fold in aircraft and vehicle manufacturing.
- Midland-based Dow Chemical with Ford and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will receive $9 million to develop a lower cost carbon fiber production process. Click here for more information on the Dow Chemical-headed project.
- GM with Meridian Lightweight Technologies and the Ohio State University will receive $2.67 million for the development of an integrated super-vacuum die casting process using a new magnesium alloy to achieve a 50% energy savings compared to the multi-piece, multi-step, stamping and joining process currently used to manufacture car doors.
- Delphi with Raydiance Inc. will receive $3.7 million l develop fast lasers that use micro precision cutting in a single-step manufacturing process, and verify this operation for producing flow control openings for fuel injectors. It is expected to reduce re-work and scrap rates, eliminate secondary processes such as etching, surface cleaning, or deburring, and increase laser machining energy efficiency up to 20 percent to 25 percent over standard practices.
Related: Dow Chemical Co. receives $9 million from Department of Energy for carbon fiber development