The U.S. government has just put pen to paper on a $10 million grant to Ford for funding the Ford Escape plug-in hybrid program. The federal grant comes from the Department of Energy and is primarily indented to bolster the production of grid-integrated PHEVs.

The DOE grant was prompted by the demonstration fleet of 20 plug-in Ford Escapes and will be supplemented by the automaker's own investment of the additional $10 million, totaling $20 million or $1 million per car. Similar grants, $30 million in all, went to the other two of the big three to aid "their own plug-in projects," according to Edmunds Green Car Advisor.

Learn more about Ford and its PHEV program here.