The inspection report on the Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative grant came a day after President Barack Obama lauded U.S. efforts to invest in alternative energy.

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Everything, all of the electronics on the vehicle itself, every component had its own solid-state circuit breaker so that we could turn things on and off, and control what was happening.

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"The carbon fibre reinforced plastic parts are at least 30% lighter than aluminium and 50% lighter than steel for identical component use, so the vehicle weighs 300kg less than an ordinary vehicle, " Mr Bauman explains.

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In this case, the main contractor is given total responsibility for the entire project, selecting even the component suppliers, and checking everything before handing over the finished vehicle to the customer.

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Mascarenas floats a fix: Create a standardized battery component that can be plugged into any customized pack and swapped out to give a vehicle more range.

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