Battery powered car

(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain on Monday called for a $300 million prize to whoever can develop a battery that will "leapfrog" the gasoline-saving abilities of current hybrid and electric cars.

Sen. John McCain wants someone to develop a battery that can "leapfrog" those available in current electric cars.

Saying the U.S. needs to take action because of high oil prices, the Republican presidential candidate said he wants his offer to "deliver a power source at 30 percent of the current costs."
"[The prize would amount to] $1 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. -- a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency," McCain said during a town hall-style meeting at California's Fresno State University.
McCain's Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, also was expected to address energy issues Monday during a talk with working women at the Flying Star Cafe in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
McCain said the new automobile battery should have "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars." Watch more on McCain's $300 million reward »
"In the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure," McCain said. "From now on, we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering, and we will reward the greatest success."
McCain also called Monday for a "Clean Car Challenge" for U.S. automakers, hoping to spur them to develop and sell vehicles with no carbon emissions. The challenge would allow $5,000 tax credits to buyers of such cars, making those vehicles more appealing to consumers and thus easier to sell.
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"We're going to see technology for electric-powered cars that are going to be [made cheaper] with our incentives," McCain said.
McCain also spoke against policies that he said "prevent consumers from benefiting" from ethanol not made from corn. He cited the U.S. subsidies for corn-based ethanol and tariffs on sugar cane-based ethanol from Brazil.
"Instead of playing favorites, our government should level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of gasoline, both lowering gasoline prices and carbon emissions," he said.
McCain's remarks came a day after Obama called for greater oversight for energy traders.
Obama on Sunday, blaming skyrocketing gas prices in part on speculation, proposed fully closing what he called a loophole that exempts most over-the-counter energy trades from regulation.
His campaign said many economists believe speculation could be adding between $20 and $50 to the price of a barrel of oil. The price per barrel closed near $135 on Friday.
He said current law prevents the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from fully overseeing the oil futures market and investigating cases in which excessive speculation may be increasing oil prices.
His campaign noted that the so-called loophole would be partially closed by a provision in a farm bill that was passed this year. But he said his plan would fully close it by requiring that U.S. energy futures are traded on regulated exchanges.
"My plan fully closes the ... loophole and restores common-sense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future," the Illinois Democrat said in a statement Sunday.
Meanwhile, monthly campaign finance reports filed in June show the candidates are nearly level in the amount of money they have available to spend before their parties' conventions.
According to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission, Obama had $43.1 million in the bank at the start of June. However, $9.8 million of that amount is designated for the general election, meaning only the remaining $33.3 million may be spent before the conventions.
McCain, according to his report filed with the FEC, began June with about $31.4 million available to spend before the conventions.
McCain had only $123,000 set aside for the general election. However, since indicating he will accept public financing for the general election, he has returned nearly all of the money he has raised for it.
Obama said last week he would not accept public financing. Republicans and outside analysts have said Obama found he could raise more money than public financing would allow him to spend.