Electromotive Designs, Watt Fuel split $500G grant

Two local companies will split $500,000 from the state to develop new energy storage technologies.

Electromotive Designs LLC of Ronkonkoma will use its grant from the state Energy Research and Development Authority for work on a hybrid engine for buses and trucks. The engine would recapture braking energy and use it to accelerate a vehicle from the stop position.

Watt Fuel Cell Corp. of Port Washington will use its grant to build a prototype of a system to provide electricity and heat from a portable solid-oxide fuel cell.

Both are members of the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium.

Francis J. Murray Jr., chief executive of the development authority, said the grants are part of a larger effort “to increase the resiliency of the state’s infrastructure against extreme weather.”