President Barack Obama said today that $2.4 in stimulus funds allocated to popularizing electric and hybrid cars is now available for the asking. And if you want to buy a plug-in hybrid, the DOE will pay $7,500 of the cost. It was the highlight of a tour of the "Garage of the Future" set up by Southern California Edison. Obama toured the facility, was shown some hybrids from Ford, and announced that the purse strings are open. The Department of Energy will also announce more billion dollar-range grants next week, according to sources. Some of the highlights of today's $2.4 billion grant:

• $500 million to component makers for producing parts for electric cars. (The Dept. of Treasury is putting up $5 billion in loans for auto part makers.)

• $1.5 billion for battery makers.

• A $7,500 tax credit for anyone that buys a plug-in hybrid. Turning a hybrid into a plug-in runs $10,000 to $15,000 so this covers at least half of it.