Washington, D.C. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today congratulated Tucson’s Sion Power Corporation for receiving a $5 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a new battery to power electric vehicles for more than 300 miles between charges. The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

The most recent funding round totaled more than $106 million and went to several project categories, including alternative fuels, batteries for transportation and carbon capture technology.

Sion is developing a lithium-sulfur battery that, because of its high energy density and the low cost of sulfur, may replace the standard lithium-ion battery typically used in transportation.

“These grants are a welcome indication that the United States is taking clean, renewable energy research seriously,” Grijalva said. “These investments are important both environmentally and financially because if we don’t pursue and support cleaner technology at the federal level, we’ll continue to fall behind in the green economy race, and we can’t afford to do that.”