US DoE announces $37 million battery supply chain funding pot

The US Department of Energy has issued a notice of intent to release funding that would provide up to $37 million from ‘Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’ (BIL) funding to advance electric vehicle battery recycling, transportation, and design.

According to the government communication, the anticipated Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will focus on solutions that reduce the costs associated with battery recycling through technologies, processes, and product designs that facilitate the transport, disassembly, and preprocessing of end-of-life electric drive vehicle batteries.

The BIL funding is not limited to this year, however, as the plan is to invest over $7 billion in battery supply chains over the next five years. This will include the entire chain from sustainable sourcing to processing “all the way through end-of-life battery collection and recycling”.

In particular, the programme aims for research, development, and demonstration of “second-life applications for electric drive vehicle batteries that have been used to power electric drive vehicles” and “technologies and processes for final recycling and disposal of the [electric drive vehicle batteries]”.

As the DoE sees it, the high-capacity battery supply chain consists of five main steps: starting with raw material production, followed by materials processing and battery material manufacturing and cell fabrication, before the battery pack is assembled for its end-use product manufacturing. The final step is battery end-of-life and recycling.

eere-exchange.energy.gov, greencarcongress.com