DTE Energy Welcomes new Partners to U.S. DRIVE Electric-Vehicle Research Consortium

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced that Tesla Motors and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have joined U.S. DRIVE, a voluntary government-industry partnership focused on research and development of electric vehicles and related infrastructure technology.

Chu also announced that the research consortium was being re-named from the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership to U.S. DRIVE, which stands for Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability.

Vince Dow, DTE Energy vice president, distribution operations, welcomed Tesla Motors and EPRI to U.S. DRIVE. “The addition of these two new partners will shift our research efforts into a higher gear,” he said. “DTE Energy has a long history of partnering with EPRI on research into technologies that have increased the safety and reliability of the electric system infrastructure and have reduced the environmental impact of utility operations.”

Dow added, “Tesla Motors is producing some of the most exciting electric vehicles hitting the road today. Tesla’s willingness to push beyond the boundaries of what’s expected will be a key asset to the U.S. DRIVE partnership.”

DTE Energy has been a member of the electric vehicle research consortium since 2008.

Other partners include the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC, the collaborative research company for Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors; BP America, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil Corporation, Shell Oil Products US and Southern California Edison.