The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is soliciting proposals from the National Laboratories and industry partners that pursue radical innovations for American battery manufacturing leadership. Manufacturing competitiveness is a priority for the Trump Administration, and under this opportunity, DOE will directly fund the National Laboratories to establish public-private partnerships that solve engineering challenges for advanced battery materials and devices, with a focus on de-risking, scaling, and accelerating adoption of new technologies.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office and Vehicles Technologies Office will jointly invest up to $12 million in projects that address capability gaps for enhanced lithium-ion batteries, next-generation lithium-ion batteries, and next-generation lithium-based battery technologies through the following four areas:

  1. Materials processing and scale-up;
  2. Innovative / advanced electrode and cell production;
  3. Designer materials and electrodes; and,
  4. Formation.

Interested industry partners should reach out directly to the National Laboratory contacts listed below about opportunities to collaborate. Proposals are limited to submission by the National Laboratories. Full applications from the National Laboratories are due on July 17, 2020.

Individual projects awards will range from $500,000 to $3 million over 24 to 36 months. A 50/50 cost-share will be required between DOE and the private partner, which can include an in-kind contribution. Funds will be awarded directly to the National Laboratories to support work with companies under Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs).

This funding opportunity is a part of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, a DOE-wide effort to create and sustain global leadership in energy storage utilization and exports, with a secure domestic manufacturing supply chain that does not depend on foreign sources of critical materials. Visit the Energy Storage Grand Challenge website to learn more.

National Laboratory Contacts and Capabilities

Ames National Laboratory
Capabilities:Electrode Manufacturing; Battery Cell Testing
Contact:Iver Anderson, andersoi@ameslab.gov
Argonne National Laboratory
Capabilities:Cell Manufacturing; Electrode Manufacturing; Electrode Materials Scale-up; Electrolyte Manufacturing / Scale-up; Failure Analysis Testing; Machine Learning; Materials Processing
Contact:James Miller, james.miller@anl.gov
Venkat Srinivasan, vsrinivasan@anl.gov
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Capabilities:Electrode Manufacturing; Electrode Materials Scale-up
Contact:Xiao-Qing Yang, xyang@bnl.gov
Kansas City National Security Campus
Capabilities:Battery Cell Testing
Contact:Rocco Covello, rcovello@kcnsc.doe.gov
Idaho National Laboratory
Capabilities:Electrode Manufacturing; Failure Analysis Testing; Battery Abuse Testing; Machine Learning
Contact:Seth Snyder, seth.snyder@inl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Capabilities:Advanced Formation; Electrode Manufacturing; Electrolyte Manufacturing / Scale-up; Materials Processing
Contact:Thomas Kirchstetter, TWKirchstetter@lbl.gov
Vince Battaglia, vsbattaglia@lbl.gov
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Capabilities:Electrolyte Manufacturing / Scale-up
Contact:Matthew McNenly, mcnenly1@llnl.gov
Tony Van Buuren, vanbuuren1@llnl.gov
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Capabilities:Electrode Materials Scale-up; Electrode Manufacturing
Contact:Rodney Borup, Borup@lanl.gov
National Energy Technology Laboratory
Capabilities:Electrode Materials Scale-up; Electrode Manufacturing
Contact:Bryan Morreale, bryan.morreale@netl.doe.gov
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Capabilities:Advanced Formation; Cell Manufacturing; Electrode Manufacturing; Electrolyte Manufacturing / Scale-up; Materials Processing; Battery Abuse Testing
Contact:John Farrell, john.farrell@nrel.gov
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Capabilities:Cell Manufacturing; Electrode Manufacturing; Electrolyte Manufacturing / Scale-up; Battery Cell Testing
Contact:Claus Daniel, danielc@ornl.gov
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Capabilities:Cell Manufacturing; Electrode Materials Scale-up
Contact:Johnathan Holladay, john.holladay@pnnl.gov
Sandia National Laboratories
Capabilities:Electrode Manufacturing; Cell Manufacturing; Battery Abuse Testing
Contact:Christopher Moen, cmoen@sandia.gov
Savannah River National Laboratory
Capabilities:Machine Learning
Contact:Charles James, charles.james@srnl.doe.gov
SLAC Accelerator Laboratory
Capabilities:Advanced Formation; Electrode Materials Scale-up; Materials Processing; Machine Learning
Contact:Steve Eglash, seglash@slac.stanford.edu