More Than $3B in Funding Announced for EV Battery Production

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $3.1 billion in funding from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be used to manufacture more electric vehicle (EV) batteries and components in the United States.

The funding will assist plans by U.S. manufacturers to build new factories and retrofit existing ones to make EV batteries and related parts.

In a separate announcement, the DOE announced $60 million to support second-life applications for EV batteries, as well as new processes for recycling materials back into the battery supply chain. Both funding announcements are meant to support the president's goal to have EVs make up half of all vehicle sales in the U.S. by 2030, according to a press release.

The DOE also announced an additional $45 million to develop more efficient EV batteries. The DOE launched the Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living (EVs4ALL) program to develop more affordable, convenient, efficient, and resilient batteries, according to a press release.

The program aims to:

• Provide batteries that offer faster charging.
• Develop batteries that can withstand cold temperatures to ensure they can power vehicles in the coldest parts of the countries.
• Improve resilience to create batteries that can travel longer distances between charges and have better overall total life mileage.

“Positioning the United States front and center in meeting the growing demand for advanced batteries is how we boost our competitiveness and electrify our transportation system,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

As of the end of March 2022, more than 2.5 million plug-in electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S. Battery costs have fallen more than 90% and since 2008, and energy density and performance have increased rapidly, paving the way for an accelerated transition to zero-emission vehicles, according to the DOE. Responsible and sustainable domestic sourcing of the critical materials used to make lithium-ion batteries — such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite — will help avoid or mitigate supply chain disruptions and accelerate battery production in America to meet this demand and support the adoption of electric vehicles.

Originally posted on Government Fleet