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Dive Brief:
- The last of the Ministry of Energy funding for battery manufacturing focuses on research and development to improve the durability and reduce the cost of batteries in the transport sector.
- The United States Advanced Battery Consortium in Southfield, Michigan, will receive $60 million to further develop lightweight, low-cost batteries for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles and less expensive battery recycling processes.
- The remaining $71 million is earmarked for 27 projects working to increase EV driving range, reduce battery costs, advance EV charging systems and increase EV driving range.
Dive Insight:
The department’s funding is one aspect of the Biden administration’s push to diversify the nation’s battery portfolio in search of cheaper, more readily available components that can power the U.S. energy transition.
One such potential ingredient is sulfur.
DOE funds include millions of dollars for experimentation with the lithium-sulfur battery alternative. Battery startups Lyten and Zeta Energy, as well as manufacturing company Coherent each received more than 3 million dollars to further develop lithium sulphide, which is said to be cost-effective and more energy-dense than ion-based batteries, according to Argonne National Laboratory.
Purdue University, the University of California, Colorado School of Mines, and the University of South Carolina also received funding for lithium-sulfur battery research and development.
OEMs also received funding to further investigate hydrogen-powered engines. Cummins received $5 million to develop wireless charging solutions for heavy vehicles. She and Paccar also received $3.5 million for research and development related to hydrogen internal combustion engines for heavy commercial vehicles.
Cummins has grown two prototype hydrogen engines over the past two years, promoting the power source as a clean alternative targeting vehicles with demanding driving needs, high asset utilization, high route variation and harsh environmental conditions. Neither engine has yet been released to the commercial market.
Paccar, Cummins and Daimler are also renewing their commercial battery production. The three OEMs build one until $3 billion battery plant in Mississippi for the manufacture of lithium iron phosphate batteries for commercial electric trucks.
The Department of Energy is busy starting 2024 with EV-related funding. A day after announcing the $131 million in EV batteries and charging, the department awarded $46 million for EV charging reliability improvements and workforce developments.