John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, is proposing a $300 million government prize to whomever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology, the Associated Press reports. The prize would be "a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency," McCain said in remarks Monday at Fresno State University in California.

According to the report, McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs, and it should also have "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars." He is also proposing a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-carbon emissions car automakers develop and sell. (Via AutoblogGreen)