John McCain‘s proposal to award $300 million to the inventor of a better battery to power electric or hybrid cars may send wishful tinkerers to their garage, but that research already is well under way and about to be put to the test in an electric vehicle being built in Norway.

In fact, at least a couple of dozen new venture-backed companies are reportedly already vying to produce high-efficiency battery-operated automobiles. Chevrolet, for instance, is also working on an extended-range electric vehicle called Volt, which it hopes to complete by the end of 2010.

The key to the new electric car is the lithium-ion battery. One of the companies supplying the battery for the "Think" electric vehicle being built in Norway says McCain’s proposal is ‘’very exciting.‘’

‘’It has created buzz and excitement and done wonders for us,’’ said Rachel Carroll, vice president of corporate communications at Ener1, whose subsidiary, EnerDel, produces one of the batteries used in Think’s ‘’City.’’

‘’City’’ will be sold first in Europe, with plans to introduce it in Southern California next year. It is unclear whether the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was aware of that project, or the current state of battery technology, when he proposed a $300 million government prize early this week for the ‘’development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrid or electric cars.‘’

While McCain opponent Barack Obama criticized the proposal as a ‘’bounty’’ for some ‘’rocket scientist’’ to win, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said the proposed award has generated ‘’an extraordinary amount of excitement’’ with great feedback from industry and the scientific community.

Bounds told FOXNews.com that his understanding is the prize could go to anyone, but specifics of the proposal would be laid out if McCain becomes president.

"If elected, John McCain would make it policy," Bounds said, noting that McCain is trying to give Americans an understanding of innovative approaches that are available.

Carroll said McCain is just coming up to speed on something that Ener1 has been working on for five years.

Given the concerns about safety and cost of research and development -- Ener1 has already invested $200 million in the technology -- Carroll said the company would be grateful for any government support, especially since advances in battery research ‘’won’t happen in your backyard.‘’

Massachusetts energy technology consultant Jim Dunn said McCain had to come up with a big idea after coming out against federal funding for renewable energy. He said battery technology is ‘’the only thing holding us up‘’ from making advances away from oil dependency.

But big hurdles still have to be overcome. Dunn said the cost of the battery is the ‘’biggest single thing’’ still holding the industry back. Reliability remains a concern as well.

Jennifer Watts with the Electric Drive Transportation Association said McCain’s announcement was helpful because it focuses on domestic development of battery technology. She said production has to be domestic or the country will be trading dependence on foreign oil for dependence on foreign technology.

McCain’s proposal was ridiculed by Edwin Black, author of ‘’Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives.’’ Black said the government could already put that money into battery research right now if it wanted to.

Black also criticized McCain’s lack of specifics. But Black’s criticism extends to both candidates, saying neither McCain nor Obama has a plan for weaning the country off oil in the near future.

Major oil companies contacted by FOXNews.com declined to comment on McCain’s proposal or did not return telephone calls. Cathy Landry with the American Petroleum Institute said while she can’t comment specifically about McCain’s idea, America needs a balanced energy policy that promotes energy efficiency, conservation and a greater supply of all forms of energy, including natural gas and oil.