LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Utah State University is getting a $3 million federal grant to try improving battery performance for electric vehicles.

The grant is part of $43 million in funding announced earlier this month from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency.

USU professor Regan Zane says researchers will use the three-year grant to develop a system that could decrease the cost of a battery pack by 25 percent.

USU is the lead research organization on the project, and is partnering with the University of Colorado and the Ford Motor Company. Researchers plan to demonstrate their approach on a commercial Ford plug-in hybrid battery pack.