So, the U.S. Department of Energy is committing $30 million to General Motors, Ford and General Electric to help them make plug-in hybrid vehicles commercially viable by 2016. Ooh. Ahh. Humbug.

Are they serious? Just $30 million toward a technology that’s supposed to be a key pillar in America’s fight against climate change, and its quest to wean itself from foreign oil? Google, an Internet search company, is spending more than this. And 2016? It’s an odd target, given that GM and some of its competitors plan to have plug-in electrics on the road by 2010. Perhaps the key word is “viable.” I don’t know. Or maybe the White House is confusing plug-ins with hydrogen fuel cells. Hmmm.

I’ve love to go on a further rant about this, but Chuck Squatriglia at Wired.com does such a good job I’d encourage you to read what he has to say about the DOE’s investment. Here’s a sample: “What’d it do — scrounge change from couch cushions in the Pentagon?” Or maybe the couch cushions in the reception area at Exxon.

On a somewhat related note: It looks like GM is going to decide over the next few weeks which battery technology will go into its Volt car. Will it be LG Chem or Continental/A123? Tough to say, but I think whatever the outcome both companies have a sunny future. More interesting is that GM is reportedly already in talks with various utilities about what to do with battery packs from its cars after they’ve reached the end of their useful life. In a vehicle, that useful life doesn’t mean the battery pack is completely useless — it’s just not ideal for use in a vehicle. “GM wants the Volt battery to run at least 150,000 miles and last 10 years. But even after its projected life in the car, engineers estimate that the batteries would still have between 70 percent and 80 percent of their power remaining,” according to Reuters. “That opens the possibility that a utility could stitch together hundreds or thousands of recycled units to store power and send it back to the electric grid at times of peak demand.” And then there’s the added benefit of having all those batteries in the same place when they do eventually become useless. That will make it much easier for cost-effective recycling. It’s encouraging to see companies taking more of a holistic view of things these days.

On another somewhat related note: Did anyone notice that Electrovaya’s shares shot up 37 per cent on Friday? Curious. Maybe it’s beginning to get traction with its lithium-ion battery technology, and by that I mean following through on recent announcements re: manufacturing in India, the release of a low-speed vehicles, and a partnership with Malcolm’s Bricklin’s Visionary Vehicles. That said, without an announcement to explain the jump it stinks of insider trading.

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