The house has approved an expansion to a recently approved bill for goverment-led research in making vehicles more fuel efficient. The expansion has given this area of research a total of $550 million dollars in annual spending.
“The bill would authorize $2.9 billion to the Energy Department to boost the research over five years. It would push the government to team up with companies and universities to conduct research on technologies such as batteries for hybrid vehicles, electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells and infrastructure for the electric grid,” accoring to an article by the Associate Press.
In the market for a green car NOW? According to the thedailygreen.com, 2009’s top 10 Most Fuel Efficient cars and trucks are:
- Toyota Prius
- Honda Civic Hybrid
- Nissan Altima Hybrid
- Mercury Mariner Hybrid tied with Ford Escape Hybrid and Mazda Tribute Hybrid
- Smart Fortwo
- Toyota Camry Hybrid
- VW Jetta
- Toyota Yarius
- Mini Cooper
- Honda fit