ENERGY

Electric Car Battery Research Contracts Awarded: The Advanced Battery Consortium, funded by the federal government and the Big Three auto makers to advance work on power sources for electric vehicles, has awarded $54 million in contracts for development of cheaper batteries. W. R. Grace & Co. and its partner, Johnson Controls Inc., were awarded $24.5 million for a three-year program. A $17.3-million, three-year contract was awarded to Saft America Inc., a Valdaosta, Ga., unit of France’s Alcatel Alsthom.