Funding For Fuel Research May Grow

If President Clinton's proposed budget for fiscal year 1999 is passed, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) will see a 22% increase in funding, from $227 million to $277 million. Announced in September 1993 by President Clinton and the CEOs of Chrysler Corp., Ford Motor Corp., and General Motors Corp., PNGV is a partnership between the Federal government and the U.S. auto industry to develop a new generation of vehicles with very low emissions and up to three times the fuel efficiency of conventional cars. Included in the budget is $21 million for fuel cell research, $10 million for research on direct-injection engines and advanced fuels, and $6 million for advanced battery research. The U.S. Department of Energy would receive $164 million, the largest share of the budget request.