DETROIT --- President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials took to separate stages nationwide Wednesday to announce $2.4 billion in federal grants to develop next-generation electric vehicles and batteries.

It was a dramatic way for the president's team to jump-start the biggest bet yet on a future free from -- or at least far less dependent on -- fossil fuels. Mr. Biden made the case from the home of the hard-hit U.S. auto industry.

"The ultimate success of electric cars relies on better batteries, better drive-trains, reducing carbon emissions, making alternative energy more available," Mr. Biden told a crowd of about 300 in Detroit outside NextEnergy, a nonprofit that works with businesses on research involving alternative and renewable energy.

"If we fail to invest, virtually none of that market will be in the U.S. ... We have a tremendous opportunity here -- right here in Detroit -- to invest in our vehicle fleet, shifting toward electrification."

The grants will be split among nearly 50 projects in 25 states, with the biggest shares going to Indiana and Michigan to create job opportunities in the automotive industry.

Recipients include Johnson Controls Inc., of Milwaukee, $299 million to build battery packs and cells for hybrid vehicles at a facility in Holland, Mich.; General Motors Co., $241 million to produce battery packs and develop electric drive vehicles in Michigan and Maryland; and Ford Motor Co., $92.7 million for electric drive components at plants in Michigan and Missouri.

The administration calls it the single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made.

The $2.4 billion is divided into the following areas:

- $1.5 billion to the production of batteries and their components.

- $500 million for other components needed for the cars, such as electric motors.

- $400 million toward buying plug-in hybrid cars for test demonstrations, installing an electric charging network and training for technicians and related costs.

Still, with the massive R&D effort comes hurdles, and the biggest one is cost.

The lithium-ion battery would be the heart of the electric car -- the new gasoline, if researchers can make it work. You can make a lithium-ion battery and put it in a car right now, but the battery alone would run you about $40,000. The race now is to slash costs for mass production, and they're coming down.

The nickel-metal hydride batteries used now in cars such as the Toyota Prius must still be paired with a combustion engine. Hydride batteries can give you short bursts of power. Lithium-ion can store more energy, but it's still more delicate, and heat is more of a problem.