In its most recent analysis, the US Department of Energy estimated that, using 2010 technology and assuming a production volume of 500,000 units, production costs for an 80-kilowatt fuel cell would be about $57 per kilowatt. With expected technology improvements, the cost would drop to about $47/kW by 2015, within shouting range of the department’s target of $30/kW, a benchmark figure that more or less corresponds to today’s manufacturing cost for gasoline engines.